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