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

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000661 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): WRAP-UP FOR THE PERIOD MARCH 26-APRIL 6 This is CWC-30-07. -------------- OPCW EQUIPMENT STORE -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Gary Mallard (Head, OPCW Laboratory) provided the Del with an update on this issue, which he recently raised with the Del. Mallard initially had reported that there was consideration of moving the OPCW Equipment Store from under the Technical Support Branch (TSB) to the Operations and Planning Branch (OPB) within the Inspectorate. Mallard subsequently was told by his supervisors that, given the scrutiny any such reorganization proposal would receive during the budget approval process, the move would not/not be given further consideration this year. -------------- MEETING WITH TS HEAD OF ADMINISTRATION -------------- ¶2. (U) Del reps met with Ron Nelson, head of Administration, on March 28 to go over general admin issues. Del reps noted that we hoped to provide good Amcit candidates for the P-5 Head of Budget and Finance position and the P-5 Head of Media and Public Affairs position. Nelson said the number of people who had resigned from the Technical Secretariat has appeared to level-off after 11 people resigned in January. According to Nelson, as of March 28, only 14 people had resigned so far this year. (Note: Del rep got a slightly different picture from departing BFB chief Rick Martin who, after his last day at the TS, told us that the actually number of resignations as of March 28 was probably closer to 22. End Note.) ¶3. (U) On budget issues, Nelson told us that if the TS received a small payment from the U.S. in April-May and no additional payments from the U.S. or Japan, it would have to consider tapping the Working Capital Fund possibly as early as September-October. ¶4. (U) Given the particular concern about the loss of highly-qualified inspectors to the tenure policy, del reps solicited Nelson's thoughts on possible solutions. He outlined a few that he has considered, but said that none of these were particularly easy to sell to the Director General and, subsequently, to delegations. ¶5. (SBU) Del rep presented another option for consideration -- allowing the 3-7 year tenure clock to restart when a staff member receives a promotion. Nelson thought the idea had merit for a number of reasons: (1) it would have the biggest impact on the group of most concern -- the Inspectorate; (2) it would be seen, nevertheless, as a general policy and not be perceived as selective or discriminatory or favoring just one group; (3) it would be a relatively small modification to the existing policy, even if its impact is far-reaching; and (4) it would provide the greatest benefit to the most-senior (P-5) inspection team leaders. ¶6. (SBU) Nelson noted that this would not necessarily relieve all of the pressure on the Inspectorate. For example, if an inspector were hired at the P-3 level, subsequently promoted to P-4 at about the 2-year point in his/her contract (which is typical),and then not promoted further, the net result of the change would be a maximum increase in tenure for that inspector of two years. However, even though a select group of inspectors make it to the P-5 level and receive the greatest benefit from this change, we could still preserve the most experienced and, hopefully, best-performing inspectors. Nelson was also quick to point out that he thinks that such a change would not be something the DG could do unilaterally but would need to bring before the EC. That is not likely to happen before 2008. He clearly was intrigued by the proposal and agreed to consider it further and share his thoughts with the Del. -------------- OIO/EXTERNAL AUDITOR REPORT CONSULTATIONS -------------- ¶7. (U) Consultations were held by outgoing facilitator Rick Snelsire (U.S.) on March 27. The facilitator went through the two documents, asking for clarification on only one item on the Office of Internal Oversight report. He asked if the TS had found a solution to the problem of TS employees SIPDIS carrying a large amount of cash for seminars and workshops in third world countries. Mohammed Louati, head of OIO, responded by saying often there is no other choice, though they have been able to reduce the need for carrying cash. They are researching whether they can utilize the facilities of other UN organizations and perhaps borrow cash. Ron Nelson said he has researched using the UNDP cash points, but has been told by them this is not possible. The TS continues to make progress and will continue to work to try to remedy this situation. ¶8. (U) After the run-through was completed, a couple delegations asked for clarifications to certain items on the reports. Japan asked if there had in fact been 57 breaches of confidentiality reported. Louati said that he was unaware of 57 breaches of confidentiality. (Note: In a subsequent conversation with TS representatives it became clear that the 57 breaches that Japan was referring to involved infractions by delegations over an extended period of time not violations by the TS.) ¶9. (U) Japan also asked for an assessment of the Quality Management System. The TS responded by saying that this system is mainly used by the laboratory and OIO to be in compliance with specific technical standards. They believe it is working well; it has been accredited by the Dutch Accreditation Body and is well maintained by the TS. On the External Auditor Report, Japan wanted to know what was left to implement in Results Based Budgeting. The TS said they have made progress and recently made an assessment of how they achieved RBB in the 2006 program and budget. They are preparing the 2008 program and budget using the RBB apparatus and are using the assessment to make changes to improve the use of RBB. This year, they are preparing information to focus RBB to the individual person within a branch and are working on the steps toward Results Based Management. ¶10. (U) France asked about the Travel Program change. The TS explained that the old system was underperforming and there had been payment problems. They put the travel program out to bid and believe the new agency, Carlson Wagonlit, will offer improved services and costs. France also asked about unliquidated obligations asking how much there was from one year to the other. The TS said in 2006 there was 5.9 million, and in 2005 5.7 million. They said they are trying to only carry forward what is needed. The TS also had to again explain again about SMARTStream. The final French question was about how much outsourcing of services is done. The TS responded by saying the main outsourcing is the investment program of the Provident Fund for the individual staff members of the OPCW. Noting that they put it out to bid and ABN-AMRO won, they are putting the money into very conservative individual savings accounts that cannot be touched by the staff until they leave OPCW employment. Travel is outsourced as noted previously, as well as gardening, cleaning and some building maintenance, some security upgrades, and some Information Systems maintenance. ¶11. (U) The consultation ended with a note that the OIO and External Auditor Reports for 2006 will be released in early May. ¶12. (U) Javits sends. ARNALL