BELGIUM NON-COMMITTAL ON CRITERIA-BASED CONTROL OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001732 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/WE AND ISN/NESS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2018 TAGS: ENRG ETTC KNNP MNUC PARM TRGY IAEA BE SUBJECT: BELGIUM NON-COMMITTAL ON CRITERIA-BASED CONTROL OF ENR EQUIPMENT REF: STATE 11509 Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Richard Eason (C) Poloff delivered reftel points urging consensus on a criteria-based approach to control of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology and equipment to Werner Bauwens, Director of the MFA Office of Non-Proliferation and Export Controls, on November 13, immediately upon Bauwens' return from a conference in Australia. Bauwens was aware of the USG proposal for a criteria-based approach and said that Belgium had put forward papers on the issue in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in the past. Bauwens, who is scheduled to represent Belgium at the November 19 meeting in Vienna, said that he is ready to look at and discuss the U.S. proposed text, but he doubts whether the text can be approved at the November 19 meeting. The exact wording of the USG-proposed text, as of time of the meeting, would be decisive, he said. Poloff reviewed with Bauwens the criteria mentioned in para 7 of reftel. Bauwens focused on the "black box" approach to supplying technology, saying that some NSG members, notably Canada, had problems with it. He added that officials in the Belgian economic ministries also have reservations about the idea. Bauwens was unwilling to express his own opinion on the issue. He did ask whether the latest version of the U.S. proposed text could be made available to him in advance of the November 19 meeting so that he can discuss it internally in the GOB before he arrives in Vienna. .