UNSC 1540 COMMITTEE DISCUSSES OUTREACH ASSISTANCE

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000866 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNSC PREL AORC KPAO PTER KNNP SUBJECT: UNSC 1540 COMMITTEE DISCUSSES OUTREACH ASSISTANCE INITIATIVES REF: A. KONZET-SANDAGE EMAIL 10/09/07 (DRAFT BACKGROUND PAPER & ASSISTANCE TEMPLATE) ¶B. KONZET-SANDAGE EMAIL 10/10/07 (PROVISIONAL LIST OF ACTIVITIES) ¶C. STATE 141256 ¶D. USUN 765 ¶E. STATE 127691 ¶1. BEGIN SUMMARY: On October 10 the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004)("1540 Committee") discussed a strategy for further outreach and a draft matrix states could use to submit assistance requests. Committee members also welcomed the Committee's October 9 decision to approve the text of draft letters to transmit the Committee's implementation matrices to states, along with the text of a draft disclaimer that will be included in each matrix, and called for the Committee to transmit the letters soon. END SUMMARY. ¶2. The members of the 1540 panel of experts introduced a draft background paper on the Committee's outreach strategy at an informal meeting October 10 (ref A). Panel members said the Committee's outreach efforts should shift away from raising awareness of Member State obligations under resolution 1540 to achieving full implementation of the resolution. The UK and French delegations highlighted the need to measure the results of the Committee's outreach activities in order to better guide the future strategy. Similarly, USUN noted the importance of coordination with regional groups as a means of avoiding duplicative and conflicting outreach activities. ¶3. The Russian delegation raised concerns about the panel of experts' proposal to focus outreach events on issues of bio-safety, extra-territoriality, and proliferation financing. Specifically, the Russian representative indicated that issues of bio-safety are outside the scope of Resolution 1540 and that the principle of extra-territoriality is not a widely accepted concept. Additionally, while the Russian representative acknowledged that proliferation financing is within the scope of Resolution 1540, he argued that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was the appropriate forum to address the issue. The South African delegation expressed similar concerns with respect to bio-safety and extra-territoriality. ¶4. In a brief discussion of upcoming outreach events, a representative of the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs (ODA) commended the U.S. for cosponsoring the 1540 Workshop for African States to be held in Botswana on November 27 and 28 (ref C). ¶5. The Chairman subsequently solicited feedback on a draft template for states to use in requesting assistance (ref A). USUN emphasized the need for the template to take a balanced approach in both paraphrasing the resolution and accurately reflecting its content and recommended including a means for states to make general requests that might not be classified as requests for "assistance," as well as a means for countries to request confidentiality. Other delegations emphasized the need for a user-friendly format and the UK representative suggested tracking any previous assistance received by a requesting country. ¶6. After a brief overview of the division of work among the panel of experts, the meeting concluded with a discussion of how best to raise awareness about the letters the Committee will send states soon. The letters will transmit the Committee's matrices, request states' consent to post their matrices on the Committee's website, and solicit other information for the Committee's April 2008 report to the Security Council. USUN recommended sending the template of the transmittal letters to regional organizations, and the UK delegation suggested having a briefing for non-Security Council members of the UN. The Chairman seemed receptive to both ideas. ¶7. The next Committee meeting will likely be held the last week of October or the first week of November. KHALILZAD