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