1540: COMMITTEE DISCUSSES WEBSITE, OUTREACH

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000752 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC PREL PTER UNSC KNNP SUBJECT: 1540: COMMITTEE DISCUSSES WEBSITE, OUTREACH REF: A. USUN 728 ¶B. STATE 127691 ¶C. USUN 746 ¶1. BEGIN SUMMARY: At an informal meeting September 12 of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) ("1540 Committee"),Slovak PermRep and Chairman Peter Burian announced that interested delegations were discussing proposals for reaching agreement on the language of a draft letter transmitting the Committee's country-specific analyses ("matrices") to states. He hoped delegations would reach agreement in a "matter of hours, not days" and proposed to circulate any new language under a silence procedure once negotiations had concluded. Chairman Burian also reported positively on the workshop on 1540 implementation for Arab States in Amman, Jordan, September 4-5, which the United States co-sponsored with the EU and Norway. END SUMMARY. Matrices -------------- ¶2. Taking their cues from the Chairman, members did not discuss the substance of the U.S. proposal for posting the matrices on the Committee's website (ref A). After the UN's Department of Public Information said the Committee's public website could not include password protected information (as the U.S. has proposed) but that the UN could post password protected documents on another server, the Chairman suggested that the U.S. language might need to be adjusted accordingly. Comment: USUN recommends remaining flexible on how best to capture the technicalities of posting information on a close-hold basis on the Internet. End Comment. Website -------------- ¶3. The Committee also continued to discuss a proposal for improving the Committee's website. The UN has funds budgeted for the project during the next two years and plans to start by revising the English language website and then to replicate the site in the other UN languages. Outreach -------------- ¶4. The Chairman praised the U.S., EU, and Norwegian-sponsored 1540 implementation workshop in Amman earlier this month. Twelve Arab states participated, along with representatives of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),and the World Customs Organization (WCO). Among other things, the Chairman said the workshop gave participants an excellent opportunity to discuss practical aspects of 1540 implementation and develop points of contact in the region. ¶5. The Chairman and the group of experts also briefed the Committee on an upcoming sub-regional workshop in Gaborone, Botswana, November 29-30. The workshop, which will complement the November 27-28 subregional workshop on 1540 implementation in Gaborone (ref C),will focus on helping SADC member states report to the 1540 Committee, the Counter-Terrorism Committee, and the 1267 Committee (al Qa'ida/Taliban sanctions). Representatives of the Committee's group of experts, as well as the Counter-Terrorism Committee's Executive Directorate and the 1267 Monitoring Team, will participate in the event, which the UN Office of Drugs and Crime is coordinating. KHALILZAD