SHIELD S15A-06: DUTCH RESPONSE TO SYRIAN CW-USEFUL

S E C R E T THE HAGUE 002084 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CB, EUR/WE E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2017 TAGS: PREL PARM ETTC SY NL SUBJECT: SHIELD S15A-06: DUTCH RESPONSE TO SYRIAN CW-USEFUL CHEMICAL PROCUREMENT DEMARCHE REF: STATE 167512 Classified By: CDA Andrew Schofer, reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (S) Polmiloff delivered reftel points to MFA Senior Advisor for Nuclear Affairs and Nonproliferation Ceta Noland on December 20. Noland appreciated the points, noting that Syria was a "country of concern" for the Australia Group and the Dutch intelligence service (AIVD). She said the Dutch delegation during the last Australia Group plenary had made a similar presentation regarding the potential to manufacture pre-cursor CW agents from ethylene/monethylene glycol. She acknowledged, however, that this presentation did not include specific mention of any Dutch company, primarily due to the fact that the export of such chemicals is not prohibited by Dutch law. Noland said she would pass reftel points to AIVD for further review, requesting additional information and possibly an update to the Dutch presentation from the last plenary. Any response from the GONL will be sent through appropriate intelligence channels. ¶2. (S) Noland also inquired if Washington might be willing to present on the same topic during the next Australia Group plenary -- providing contextual information, such as how many metric tons of these chemicals are needed to produce CW-agent pre-cursors -- will better frame the concern for Australia Group members. Schofer