CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP UP FOR

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000264

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED ADDRESSEE)
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCA, L/NPV, IO/MPR,
SECDEF FOR OSD/GSA/CN,CP>
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC
COMMERCE FOR BIS (ROBERTS)
NSC FOR SMITH
WINPAC FOR WALTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP UP FOR
WEEK ENDING MARCH 14, 2008

REF: A) THE HAGUE 249 (EC-52 WRAP UP)

This is CWC-12-08.

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Two events dominated the week of March 10-14
-- Iraq's delivery of its draft initial declaration
of its chemical weapons facilities as it joins the
Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Cuban
Ambassador's dramatic delivery of the Non Aligned
Movement's preliminary comments on the draft Review
Conference report at the eleventh hour of the Working
Group's preparations.


2. (U) Less histrionic, but moving steadily forward
were consultations on the new format of the OPCW
annual budget, an organizational meeting of the
Security Audit Team, a meeting of the Validation
Group reviewing data for the Central Analytical
Database, and a conference call to discuss U.S.
concerns with sampling and analysis.

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IRAQI DECLARATION
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3. (SBU) On March 11, Del received an electronic copy
of the most recent version of Iraq's draft initial
declaration. The CD-Rom was accompanied by a
personal letter from Iraqi Ambassador Banaa
indicating that copies were also being provided to
the UK and Director General Pfirter, and requesting
U.S. feedback. In conversation with Iraqi delegate
Jewad, Delrep inquired as to the progress in Iraqi
accession; Jewad explained that the CWC law still has
to be published in an official gazette before
accession can be finalized. Jewad was unsure as to
whether Iraq intended to use its full sixty days
between depositing its instrument of accession and
submitting its initial declaration.


4. (SBU) Later in the week, Del confirmed with
Technical Secretariat (TS) Director of Verification
Horst Reeps that a U.S./UK/TS review of the
declaration would take place March 19-20 in The
Hague. Del also requested Reeps inform Japan, as the
Japanese have come to expect participation in Iraq-
related events after funding several of the Amman
workshops.

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OEWG: REVIEW CONFERENCE PREPARATION
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5. (U) On March 13 and 14, Amb. Lyn Parker (UK)
chaired two Open Ended Working Group meetings to
continue discussing the composite draft report for
the Review Conference, since few delegations had
commented during the first discussion of the combined
text on February 27. Amb. Parker outlined his
proposed timeline for the weeks leading up to the
RevCon:

- March 17: all text due to the UK delegation for
consideration in the revised draft of the Chair's
text;

- March 19: the OEWG meeting will discuss and decide
how to proceed with consultations in the last two
weeks before the RevCon;

- March 20: the next draft of the Chair's text will
be sent to the TS for distribution (including
translation) for all SPs in advance of the RevCon;


- March 25 onward: informal consultations will likely
begin, with the new draft of the Chair's text forming
the basis of negotiations;

- March 27: the OEWG meeting will discuss the first
draft of the political declaration, to be released
the week of March 24;

- April 3: the final OEWG before the RevCon will
decide on attendance of observers, update the Chair's
report to the RevCon, and look at any outstanding
administrative issues.


6. (U) The March 13 meeting was dominated by
procedural debates and the Cuban Ambassador's
announcement on behalf of the NAM States Parties and
China that their preliminary comments on the
composite text were being posted on the OPCW external
server. The Cuban Ambassador called for
consultations on the NAM draft to begin as soon as
possible, following the "successful" model of the
RevCon agenda. The Indian Ambassador, and delegates
from Iran, South Africa and China supported early
negotiations on the draft text in small groups or
"task forces" in order to revise the text, with the
Indian Ambassador stating that both the earlier
chairman's text and the NAM text should both be
distributed to all States Parties and discussed side-
by-side. Western delegations supported the chair's
plan for a revised text, with possible negotiations
of issues or "hot spots" to follow. A variety of
views were also expressed on the form and content of
the political declaration, with Amb. Parker
describing a broad document for the press and public
that would emphasize the accomplishments of the
organization rather than following the report too
closely. The Iranian delegation spoke of a "solemn
declaration" as for the NPT and BWC. Chairman Parker
welcomed the NAM paper that he had been "awaiting"
for some time, and closed the meeting with the
announcement that Friday's session would focus on
substance in the report.


7. (SBU) The WEOG met Friday morning (March 14)
before the Open Ended Working Group session and
discussed tactics on the NAM text. The group
generally agreed that the NAM text should not be
allowed to dominate the OEWG discussion, and that all
would support the chairman's process for a revised
draft text. U.S. del noted that the NAM is not a
recognized body at the OPCW and that any future
discussions of the draft text should be open to all
interested parties and negotiated by States Parties,
not by groups. Several delegations agreed, with
Swedish del noting that questioning the NAM text
would force NAM member states to defend it and
provide more transparency on how much support any
individual change might have. The UK delegation,
including a brief appearance by Amb. Parker,
requested WEOG support in challenging the NAM text so
that the chair would not be forced to include its
more egregious points in the revised text.


8. (U) At the reconvening of the Open Ended Working
Group on Friday, delegations were remarkably cordial
and focused on substance in their interventions.
Most commented directly on the chairman's draft (as
did the U.S. del),including some delegations that
have rarely participated (Turkey, New Zealand). Of
the comments on the chairman's text given by
delegations, the following were of particular note:

- On the issue of declaration of low
concentrations of Schedule 2A chemicals, Canada asked
that the draft language be strengthened to express
concern with the failure to resolve the issue.

Canada went on to say that they would be proposing
Conference decision language that, pending final
resolution of the matter, calls for all plant sites
with production of Schedule 2A chemicals above the
verification threshold, regardless of concentration,
to submit declarations. Switzerland, Italy, the UK,
Australia, and Sweden echoed this proposal.

- Canada, Switzerland, the UK, and Sweden felt the
text regarding advances in science and technology is
too narrow, focusing only on the Scientific Advisory
Board. They suggested that industry, academia, and
other relevant expertise be included.

- Although generally supportive of its use,
Australia called for further discussions regarding
the regular use of sampling and analysis during
routine Schedule 2 inspections. The Netherlands made
similar comments.

- The Netherlands called for undertaking challenge
inspection exercises in conjunction with the TS in
regions outside of Europe.

- The Netherlands called for the need of linking
Article XI efforts with national implementation.

- In a surprising move from previous
interventions, New Zealand made reference to the DG's
paper and its call for further increases in the
number of OCPF inspections -- something that is not
found in the current text -- and spoke to their
nonproliferation value in these rapidly expanding
industries.

- As an example of the balancing work ahead,
Mexico mentioned how the language on national
implementation (text expresses great concern) seems
out of balance with that on destruction (text makes
no mention of any concern).


9. (U) While NAM member states did not raise any of
their issues in the discussion, the Cuban Ambassador
requested comments on the NAM paper. The Chinese
delegation supported the NAM paper but made
additional points in their national capacity on
abandoned chemical weapons and OCPF inspections.
Delegates from Japan, the Netherlands, France and
others questioned and commented on the NAM text, with
France noting one paragraph (119 on consensus) that
they agreed with completely. There already appears
to be some backpedaling from the "pledge" on an open
agenda that was negotiated and recorded in the report
of EC-52. Iran and South Africa both stated more
than once that any discussions or small groups
meetings between now and the RevCon should occur
strictly along the lines of the agreed agenda.


10. (U) At the end of the meeting, Amb. Parker
returned to discussion of next steps. More voices in
the room supported his revised text than argued
against it (Iran and India). Several delegations
(including the U.S.) spoke in favor of negotiations
in small groups or the OEWG before the beginning of
the RevCon. Amb. Parker stated that the next working
group (March 19) would discuss how to proceed in the
time remaining before the Review Conference, and said
he would offer a proposal on sequential meetings of
smaller groups to discuss the text by topic.

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BUDGET CONSULTATIONS
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11. (U) On March 13, John Freeman (DDG),Ron Nelson
(Director, Administration),and Labib Sahab (Head,
Budget) chaired a follow-up consultation to the

Budget Informal held just before EC-52 (ref A) to
receive delegations' feedback on the proposed new
budget format. All delegations generally spoke in
support of the changes, with many seeking to insure
that key information will be retained in the new
format. Iran and South Africa made a pitch for
including more information on staffing (e.g.,
geographical representation); this met with
resistance from Korea and the DDG, who both said that
the budget should only contain elements with budget
implications.


12. (U) Many of the points raised by the Del were
echoed by other delegations, including Germany,
Japan, Korea, and South Africa. In particular, South
Africa echoed the U.S. request for a breakdown of
budgets within program areas. The DDG said that the
TS would aim to do this for the 2010 budget but that

SIPDIS
-- due to time and technical constraints -- it would
not be possible for the 2009 budget, which is already
in preparation. While Iran indicated it wanted more
time to consider the new format, the DDG said that
the overwhelmingly positive response from SPs had
encouraged the TS use the new format for the 2009
budget document. (Del note: The TS plans to release
the DG's proposed budget on June 20, just before EC-
53.)

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VALIDATION GROUP
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13. (U) On March 11 and 12, the Validation Group met
to review newly proposed analytical data for
consideration as additions to the OPCW Central
Analytical Database (OCAD). The U.S. participants on
the Group -- Armando Alcaraz and Hugh Gregg (Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory) -- reported to the Del
that the meetings proceeded without difficulty.
Although the basic ideas have been captured in the
national papers of several States Parties, the
meeting acknowledged the importance of the TS
preparing a paper explaining the value of and need
for having some data regarding unscheduled chemicals
in the OCAD -- e.g., need for analyzing necessary
derivatives, value during challenge inspections and
cases of alleged use, value for work with old and
abandoned chemical weapons, facilitates the work of
designated laboratories. This paper would go a long
way in responding to the direct call by India
(repeated during EC-52) for such a paper and paving
the way for quicker approval of newly validated data
by the EC in the future.

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SECURITY AUDIT TEAM
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14. (U) The first session of the Fifth Security Audit
Team (SAT-V) met during the week. Lisa Von Colln
(the U.S. auditor) reported to the Del that she and
the other five auditors (representing France,
Germany, India, Japan, and the Netherlands) agreed on
the mandate for SAT-V. Instead of appointing an
overall chair, as had been done for SAT-III and SAT-
IV, the audit team decided to rotate responsibility
for coordinating each audit among the six auditors.
They also tentatively scheduled the first audit for
the week of September 22.

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SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS
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15. (U) On March 14, Delrep organized a conference
call between ISN/CB and BIS representatives in
Washington and Gary Mallard of the OPCW Laboratory in

The Hague. The purpose of the meeting was to help
resolve long-standing concerns and questions about
various aspects of chemical analysis during Schedule
2 inspections -- e.g., false positives, ramifications
of gaps in the OCAD, merits of the use of the
analytical software in both the open and closed
modes. It is expected that more general discussions
with the TS on various sampling and analysis policy
matters will happen in the near future.


16. (U) Javits sends.

Gallagher