CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP-UP FOR THE

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000404 SIPDIS 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): WRAP-UP FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 2 This is CWC-21-07. -------------- ARTICLE VII OUTREACH - THE PADILLA INITIATIVE -------------- ¶1. (U) On February 27, del rep met with Canadian delegation (Ian Mundell) regarding their Article VII outreach plans. Mundell said that Canada's efforts in the past have been reactive. Their biggest effort to date was to provide logistical support (i.e., security, transportation, meeting space) for a Technical Secretariat team during a Technical Assistance Visit in Haiti. He did restate that their guidance still calls for their focus to be English- and French-speaking Caribbean States Parties. He said that Trinidad and Tobago (a 20-in-10 country) fit within their focus, but that no current plans were in place. One significant concern for Mundell is that nearly all of the Canadian NA staff is new and not equipped to do this sort of outreach. He suggested touching bases again after we met with Amb. Onate (Legal Advisor) as to the TS outreach plans, with the goal that Mundell can go back to Ottawa with a specific proposal for support to Trinidad and Tobago. ¶2. (U) Del rep spoke with a representative of the Philippine delegation (Leila Lora-Santos) on February 27 regarding their plans for an industry outreach seminar in Manila. She said that her discussions with a representative of the Japanese delegation (Kiwako Tanaka) shed some doubt on whether Japan will be able to support the industry seminar. This information is very different from what del rep heard from the Japanese delegation two weeks ago. Del will confirm this with the Japanese delegation next week and assess what needs to be done next. Given that they also expressed interest in a recent meeting, Del will contact the Australian delegation to see about their interest in participating in this industry seminar. The Philippine NA is pushing for this seminar to be July 18-20 and would like the date to be set as soon as possible. They have already submitted a formal request to the TS for relevant support. ¶3. (U) The Australian and Japanese NAs (with support from their delegations) are carrying out an industry outreach seminar in Jakarta this week. ¶4. (U) On February 28, del rep spoke with the Australian delegation (Sonya Koppe) regarding their outreach plans. They have a common concern about available money for future efforts. But given the expected success of the Jakarta seminar, she expected momentum for more work. She also indicated that funding does exist outside of the National Authority for "counterproliferation" work. She felt that, with careful planning, use of this money for outreach could be justified. She was interested in the news about the Manila industry seminar and, assuming the rumor is confirmed, committed to approaching her capital about lending support. Beyond this, she was more speculative. She mentioned that some related work had been done in the past with the UAE and perhaps this could justify returning there. Assuming this could be arranged, outreach to other countries in the region (Bahrain and Kuwait) might be included. ¶5. (U) Del met with Amb. Maarten Lak on February 28 to discuss outreach efforts in preparation for Lak's next consultation on the matter on March 8. We discussed where current plans stand, and he committed to follow-up discussions with: - Germany, regarding their plans with Ecuador, - Turkey, as a success story and a possible outreach provider to Tajikistan, - France, as a possible outreach provider to Morocco, - Turkey (whose legislation is now in place),to see the status of their response to the TS questionnaire, - France and the UK, requesting them to follow-up with those SPs that have participated in training in Paris and London. ¶6. (U) Lak also said he would ask delegations to come to the March 8 meeting prepared to report on their specific plans and follow-up on their previous efforts. He also mentioned his requested participation in the upcoming Universality/Article VII meeting in Algiers on June 18-19. Lak also mentioned that other meetings were being considered/planned in Pretoria and Zambia in July. ¶7. (U) Javits sends. BLAKEMAN