GC CHAIR ON PA BID FOR WTO OBSERVER STATUS

UNCLAS GENEVA 000832 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS DEPT PASS USTR TEL AVIV FOR AMB, DCM, AND ECON USTR FOR CKLEIN, AVENKATARAMAN, SFRANCESKI, MMOWREY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD WTRO ECON PREL KWBG IS SUBJECT: GC CHAIR ON PA BID FOR WTO OBSERVER STATUS Reftels: (a) Jerusalem 1607 (B) Secstate 99831 (c) Geneva00783 (d) Tel Aviv 02166 ¶1. (SBU) This morning General Council (GC) Chair Matus provided Charge with a readout on recent developments on the PA bid. The Israeli's have told him that they oppose the PA's requests for observership in GC and the Ministerial Conference because it is neither a State nor a customs territory. On the other side, Egypt is insisting that this is not a technical issue. If one or two WTO Members objects, this has to be handled in such a way that it would be clear to all WTO Members who they are. They did not threaten to call for a vote but Matus is not sure if this idea has gone away. The PA continues to be insistent on achieving their objective but he says they have been more moderate in their tone than the Egyptians. ¶2. (SBU) Matus is still expecting to see the formal request from the PA on Monday. He said that he "cannot hide the request" from Members. At a minimum he will circulate the written request to Members but he is also thinking of mentioning it during the October GC meeting. He hadn't thought through yet whether that might be done as an agenda item or under other business, but he said he would consult thoroughly before he decides. Once Members are all made aware of the request he will wait for reactions but he expects this to be an issue for the November GC meeting. (Note - Should Matus chose not to say anything on this issue at the GC meeting we can expect Egypt, or someone else, to bring it up so we will need to be prepared in any event.) SHARK