DEMARCHE REGARDING SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE

UNCLAS TOKYO 000323 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EIND JA SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REGARDING SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL RUBBER STUDY GROUP REF: STATE 10729 ¶1. Econ Officer delivered demarche points contained in ref on February 6 to METI Deputy Director of Chemical Industries Yoshinao Ogawa. Ogawa was aware of the U.S. concerns, but indicated METI would need to review the situation further before establishing an official position. He also noted he might contact his Department of Commerce counterpart to discuss the issue further. ¶2. Ogawa noted that due to scheduling problems Japan would be represented at the 2/12-13 meeting by local Embassy representatives. Specifically, Mr. Murakami (MOFA) on day 1 and Mr. Totoki (METI) on day 2. He regretted that he would be unable to attend, and acknowledged that this situation placed a greater burden on METI to prepare clear positions and instructions in advance of the meeting. ¶3. Concerning the IRSG Secretary General, Ogawa sympathized with U.S. concerns, but expected the European IRSG members to have other views. He would like to hear those views before reaching any conclusions. Recognizing the timing, he said he would seek further input to develop a position before the meeting. ¶4. Concerning the U.S. position, Ogawa showed Econoff an email covering some of the same concerns that he had received some months ago and asked why the U.S. representative had not followed up with him directly. Suggesting that it may have been because of the need to reach all of the members with a consistent message, we encouraged him to reach out to USG counterparts to discuss details further. ¶5. Asked about Japanese views, Ogawa indicated the GOJ shares some of the U.S. concerns in principle. As for Japanese industry, they seem concerned by the possibility the U.S., if sufficiently dissatisfied with the group, might also pull out thereby reducing further the IRSG's ability to provide meaningful data and reports. He added that, in addition to encouraging the UK and Indonesia to rejoin, Japanese industry would very much like to see China become a member of the group. DONOVAN