CWC: MEETINGS ON THE MARGINS OF EC-55

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000144

SENSITIVE
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STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCA, L/NPV, IO/MPR,
SECDEF FOR OSD/GSA/CN,CP>
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COMMERCE FOR BIS (ROBERTS AND DENYER)
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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.

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SUMMARY
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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).

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LUNCH WITH CLOSE ALLIES
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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.

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JAPAN
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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.

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CHINA
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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.

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ITALY
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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