CWC: MEETINGS ON THE MARGINS OF EC-55

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000144 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 AND DENYER) NSC FOR FLY WINPAC FOR WALTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL CWC SUBJECT: CWC: MEETINGS ON THE MARGINS OF EC-55 REF: A. THE HAGUE 000104 ¶B. THE HAGUE 000128 ¶C. THE HAGUE 000141 ¶D. THE HAGUE 000143 This is CWC-13-09. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On the margins of the 55th session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' Executive Council, the U.S. Del met with a number of other delegations to discuss OPCW affairs, including the selection of a new Director- General, which will be a priority for the delegation in 2009. Meetings with the Iraqi and Libyan delegations are reported separately (refs A - D). -------------- LUNCH WITH CLOSE ALLIES -------------- ¶2. (SBU) British Ambassador Lyn Parker hosted a lunch on February 16 attended by French Ambassador Jean-Francois Blarel, French delegates Annie Mari and Patrick Comoy, German Ambassador Werner Burkart, delegates Ruth Surkau and Stefan Herzog, U.S. Representative Robert Mikulak and delegates Janet Beik and Sarah Rodjom, and UK delegates Karen Wolstenholme and Clive Rowland. Discussion centered on the search for a new Director-General, with agreement that an early deadline for nominees was important and an open-ended consultation process to be avoided at all costs. The group discussed the election of a new Chair and Vice Chairs for the EC, and the critical transition between the current Chair (Slovakian Ambassador Tomova) and the new Mexican Chairman, particularly on the DG process. While objecting to Iran taking a vice chair role without a representative in The Hague, no one wanted to hold up the elections for the new leadership until the April Council. Allies compared notes on Iraq's accession to the Convention and how it might play out in the Council. The group also discussed plans for the March meeting in Paris. -------------- JAPAN -------------- ¶3. (SBU) At the request of Japan, U.S. Representative Mikulak and Delrep met with Director General of the Abandoned Chemical Weapons Office Masanori Nishi and Japanese delegates. Nishi asked for U.S. support for the Japanese candidate to fill current OPCW Head of the Inspectorate Division Ichiro Akiyama's position when Akiyama departs this summer. The candidate, Shigeyuki Urano, was former head of OPCW Operations and Planning Branch. Nishi noted with concern that he had heard the Director General intended to leave this post open until his own departure in 2010. (DEL COMMENT: Delrep learned later in the week from Richard Ekwall, the Director General's Chief of Cabinet, that the DG does intend to fill the post as quickly as possible following Akiyama's departure. END COMMENT.) ¶4. (SBU) Nishi mentioned the test destruction plant at Haerbaling, China, and noted that full-scale operations there will be very complicated because they will be operated jointly by Japan and China. He noted recent Chinese complaints that the process was moving too slowly, and also noted that interactions with the arms control division of the Chinese MFA tend to be more confrontational than other areas of bilateral discussion/cooperation. ¶5. (SBU) Nishi noted that excellent chemical detection capabilities will be needed as operations begin, and expressed concern that one of the best systems on the market (U.S. Mini-cams) may be difficult to procure because of export controls for China. He expected that the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo would receive a request to look into this. He added that U.S. personnel actually operate the Mini-cams in Japan's Kanda Harbor, and wondered if a similar arrangement would be possible in China. ¶6. (SBU) Mikulak told Nishi that the U.S. will likely continue its bilateral dialogue with China on CWC implementation, and that the next discussions will be held in China and may involve a visit to Nanjing. If so, he said that the U.S. will ask China to include Japanese officials. -------------- CHINA -------------- ¶7. (SBU) At China's request, Mikulak and Delrep met with Chinese Ambassador Zhang and Chinese Delreps on February 18. Zhang had general inquiries about the new U.S. administration's arms control policies, the pace of chemical weapons destruction, the search for a new Director General, and the recent accession of Iraq to the CWC. He reiterated China's concern that delays by major possessor states in destruction of their stockpiles would give Japan room to further delay its destruction efforts in China. Mikulak expressed hope that China and the U.S. would soon resume their bilateral dialogue on CWC implementation, particularly on industry issues. Zhang said that China supports OPCW non-proliferation efforts despite the burden on industry, but believes inspections should be allocated based on the "hierarchy of risk" laid out by the Schedules of Chemicals. -------------- ITALY -------------- ¶8. (SBU) On February 19, Representative Mikulak and Delreps Clagett, Ferguson, Miller, and Robinson met with Italian delegates Vittorio Rocco di Torrepadula and Giuseppe Cornacchia to discuss progress and reporting on Libya's Rabta conversion. The Italians expressed concern with the lack of progress and the possibility that the overall project (to include the active pharmaceutical ingredient formulation and packaging facility, which is not part of the Rabta conversion as such) would not be completed on time and thus not be viewed as a success. Delreps were in agreement on the need for Libya to provide better reporting on the status of the conversion as well as the reloading and destruction facilities (to be located at the existing CW Storage Facility and near the Rabta conversion, respectively). The two delegations agreed that both should engage the Libyan delegation to encourage better transparency. ¶9. (SBU) The conversation then expanded to address three other subjects. Rocco asked about Italy's bilateral Host Country Agreement (HCA) with the United States, which was recently approved by the Italian Parliament. Approval has apparently prompted Italian authorities to assess what actions are necessary on their part to be prepared in the event of a Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Qevent of a Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) challenge inspection. Rocco asked for the names of other countries with which we have similar agreements and the nature of those agreements. Delrep responded that the U.S. has been working on similar agreements with a number of countries spanning several different regions, but that most countries prefer that the details of those negotiations are kept confidential. ¶10. (SBU) Cornacchia summarized results from the last consultation on the 2A/2A* low concentration thresholds, pointing out that there remain two separate camps centered at either the low ( 1 %) or high (30 %) threshold. He stated there was some movement among the latter group (e.g. recent indications that France might be willing to accept a lower threshold),but with little real progress, and he solicited U.S. suggestions for a way forward. Delreps suggested that a compromise threshold as proposed at the Florence workshop in September 2008 still offered a possible way ahead. Delreps also noted that definitive data on the consequence of the level selected on the facility coverage (as requested in consultation) would be helpful. Cornacchia opined that a more comprehensive assessment was unlikely to provide results differing from those already reported, and could raise additional concerns with confidentiality. ¶11. (SBU) Cornacchia asked for U.S. views on the approach to appointment of the next Director General. Mikulak reiterated the approach suggested in the U.S. national statement to EC-55, indicating that the U.S. preferred to continue the rotation between developed and developing countries, and that nominations should be submitted in time for candidates to address the July 2009 EC, with an eye to achieving consensus on a candidate by October ¶2009. ¶12. (U) Beik sends. GALLAGHER