CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): SCENESETTER FOR

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001952 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCB, L/ACV, IO/S, SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN) NSC FOR LEDDY WINPAC FOR WALTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL CWC SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): SCENESETTER FOR THE TWELFTH CONFERENCE OF THE STATES PARTIES This is CWC-85-07. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The November 5-9 Conference of the States Parties will either be extremely hectic or rather uneventful. When Executive Council 50 passed the 2008 budget, expectations for a meeting of the EC during the Conference faded. Del believes an EC meeting will be necessary during the week of the Conference if several substantive items are ready for CSP consideration. Current consultations on Article VI (late declarations and transfer discrepancies),Article VII Implementation, and Universality are all bogged down by Iranian and NAM delaying tactics while they push for an Article XI action plan that western delegates are blocking. Delegations are beginning to realize that the agenda is very thin unless there is forward movement on these consultations and some would like to have more to show than a budget for this anniversary year. Del expects decisions are possible, but will probably require significant last minute work to conclude. Lobbying for the chairmanship of the Review Conference is likely to be active during the Conference, but the Secretariat is proposing that no action is required by the CSP but only a report by the Chair of the Open Ended Working Group to the next regular session of the Executive Counil that the chair will rotate to the Asian regional group. End Summary. -------------- -------------- Elections of CSP and RevCon Officers and EC Members (Agenda Items 2, 3, 12) -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SB) The African group,s choice of Sudan as the chair of the Conference of States Parties has been controversial, both within the group and outside. The African group held a meeting October 19 to reconsider its earlier decision but did not take action. Del expects the grumbling will continue but that Sudanese Ambassador Idris,s election will not be opposed in the Conference itself. ¶3. (SBU) There has been even more buzz about the rotation of the Review Conference chair and what procedures are required (or not) to achieve it. There is widespread agreement that the five-year schedule of the review conference, which would have Africa chair it every time among the five regional groups, is not equitable. Most delegations agree that the RevCon chair should rotate to Asia in 2008, but there is little agreement about how that should be done, and great concern among the WEOG and others about an Iranian candidacy. The latest interpretation from the Technical Secretariat is that the Review Conference is a unique special conference that should elect its own officers, quite apart from the annual Conference of States Parties. The TS recently proposed to the Chairman of the Open Ended Working Group for the Review Conference, Amb. Lyn Parker (UK),that no action is necessary by the CSP, but that the OEWG chairman should report on the expected rotation to the next Executive Council at its next regular session so that the regional groups can choose candidates for all RevCon offices well before the April dates of the RevCon. ¶4. (U) Election of new Executive Council members to begin their terms in May 2008 will probably be routine. Full lists of candidates are not yet available, but notable among early reports is that Iran and Cuba are seeking re-election. Del will send lists of candidates when received. -------------- Status of Implementation (Agenda Item 9) -------------- ¶5. (SBU) A/S DeSutter,s address to the Conference should be the highlight of this agenda item on Wednesday morning. -------------- Article VII -------------- ¶6. (SBU) There is virtually no chance of an agreement on an Article VII decision document by the start of the CSP. Facilitator Kimmo Laukkanen (Finland) has tried to accommodate opposing positions but has failed to lead the consultations toward agreement on the issues, with sessions getting bogged down in wordsmithing details. Iran has repeatedly noted that they have not even agreed that the consultation is working on a decision, that the draft document may be only report language. Iranian delegate also informed a recent session that one &concrete wall8 may face another, a reference to the NAM,s insistence on linking Articles VII and XI. South African delegate told Del reps after the same meeting that there will be no action on Article VII unless agreement can be reached on action on Article XI. -------------- -- Programme and Budget for 2008 (Agenda Item 13) -------------- -- ¶7. (U) With EC-50,s recommendation that the budget be approved, this agenda item will likely be quickly adopted with little if any debate. -------------- -------------- Article XI (Item 17 Fostering International Cooperation) -------------- -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The decision by the Tenth Session Conference requesting the Council to report on the full implementation of Article XI at each regular session was extended for another year by the Eleventh Session of the Conference. Facilitator Li Hong (China) has continued the consultations, but there is no resolution to the impasse between the NAM,s insistence on an action plan, and western reluctance to agree to a plan before its contents are known. Iran and Cuba, claiming to speak for the NAM, continue to link an action plan on Article XI with any movement on strengthening Article VII implementation. We expect no real movement on either until late in the Conference. Despite attempts to de-link the two issues, progress on either will depend on a broader deal that includes the other one. -------------- Universality (Item 18) -------------- ¶9. (SBU) While universality should be an apple pie resolution, the Iranians are holding up the consultations with extraneous additions to the text. Facilitator Said Moussi (Algeria) is cheerfully continuing informal and formal consultations, but this item may also need to be part of a comprehensive agreement on the other Articles to have final text in time for the CSP to consider. -------------- OTHER AGENDA ITEMS -------------- ¶10. (U) The following are other substantive items on the CSP agenda: Item 7 - DG Statement: Delegation will provide a copy when it becomes available. Item 8 - General Debate: A draft national statement for Ambassador Javits has been E-mailed to Washington. Item 9(b)- Approval is expected of the DG's report on handling of confidential information. Item 9(c) ) The Conference is expected to note the Director General,s report on progress made in the destruction of chemical weapons. Item 10 - Report of the OPCW on the implementation of the Convention should be approved with no debate. Item 11 - Report of the EC should be approved with no debate. Item 14 ) Scale of Assessments: The document has not yet been distributed to delegations. Item 15 ) External Auditor,s report should be approved with no debate. Item 16 ) Administrative and financial matters: -- 16.1 CSP will likely note the report by the Director General on OPCW income and expenditure for the financial year to 30 June 2007. -- 16.2 CSP should note the DG,s note on the use of the Working Capital Fund for the financial year to 30 September ¶2007. -- 16.3 CSP should approve proposed multi-year payment plans from Moldova and Guatemala. -- 16.4 CSP should note the report on the status of implementation of agreed multi-year payment plans. -- 16.5 CSP will likely note the annual report of the Office of Internal Oversight. -- 16.6 CSP is expected to approve the alignment of OPCW staff regulation 3.2 on educational allowances with the corresponding UN staff regulation. -- 16.7 CSP will likely note the DG's note on transfers of funds between programmes in 2007. Item 19 ) Establishment of an OPCW Office in Africa: EC 50 welcomed the DG,s initiative in developing a new Programme to Strengthen Cooperation with Africa and agreed to the need for a new facilitator and continuing work by an Open Ended Working Group. Del expects the CSP to follow this line, although there may be debate calling for more specific actions or deadlines. Item 20 - Reports of subsidiary bodies: -- 20.1 is the report of the Committee of the Whole. -- 20.2 is the report of the General Committee. -- 20.3 is the report of the Confidentiality Commission. -- 20.4 is the report of the Credentials Committee. Item 21 ) Any other business: CSP is expected to note a report by the Host Country Committee. Item 22 ) Dates and duration of the next regular sessions of the CSP: Del should have more information on these dates after the Board meeting on November 1. Item 23 ) Adoption of the report of the Conference of the States Parties: No bets yet on what will happen but odds are good for a late Friday evening session. ¶11. JAVITS SENDS. Gallagher