CWC: WRAP-UP FOR JULY 6-10, 2009

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000421

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 (BROWN AND DENYER)
NSC FOR LUTES
WINPAC FOR WALTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CWC: WRAP-UP FOR JULY 6-10, 2009

REF: A. THE HAGUE 402

B. THE HAGUE 415

C. THE HAGUE 411

This is CWC-39-09

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) As will happen during the upcoming
Executive Council (EC) session, discussions this
week were dominated by the search for a new
Director-General (DG). After additional
consultations with a number of delegations,
including with a small group of western and like-
minded states in which he outlined his plans for
the process, the EC Chairman hosted an informal
meeting of all interested delegations on July 10.
That meeting was notable for its civility and
constructive ideas as opposed to the previous
week's confrontation over the agenda (ref A). An
eighth candidate for DG was nominated just before
the deadline on July 7, a Major General from
Burundi, sparking a lot of corridor speculation.


2. (U) The Director-General launched the draft 2010
Program and Budget on July 10, another zero-
nominal-growth budget looking much like the 2009
budget. Japanese facilitator Takayuki Kitagawa
held his last facilitation on July 10, on the
External Auditor's Report and Financial Statements
for 2008, before he hands the facilitator's baton
to U.S. Delrep Nik Granger.


3. (SBU) The Japanese delegation raised the
question of possible chemical weapons or precursor
chemicals recovered under UN Security Council
Resolution 1874.


4. (SBU) Delreps met with the Deputy Director-
General (DDG) July 10 on issues relating to Iraq
(ref B).


5. (U) Reporting on the July 9 Industry Cluster
consultations will be sent septel.


--------------
RECOVERED CW FROM NORTH KOREA?
--------------


6. (SBU) Japanese delegate Takayuki Kitagawa has
raised the issue of how to deal with recovered CW
in light of recent the UN Security Council
resolution on North Korea (UNSCR 1874). Japan is
concerned what to do with any CW or precursors
confiscated through implementing that resolution.
Kitagawa specifically asked if the Coast Guard
should be expected to destroy CW, and if so, how.


7. (SBU) DEL COMMENT: In light of the South
African ambassador's discussion of "filling the
gap" (ref C) in the Convention (CWC) on CW
recovered in Iraq by the U.S. and UK before Iraq's
accession to the CWC, Del believes the UN Security
Council resolution provides a more immediate and
useful focus to such a discussion. As Japan asked,
if states interdict North Korean shipments of CW
(or precursor chemicals),what are their options
for destruction and their responsibilities to
report such destruction to the OPCW? END COMMENT.

--------------
WEOG
--------------


8. (SBU) On July 7, coordinator Ruth Surkau
(Germany) chaired the weekly meeting of the Western
European and Others Group (WEOG). Agenda items
included preparation for EC-57, report of the EC
visit to U.S. CW destruction facilities (CWDFs),
preparation for the Industry Cluster on July 9 and
an update on new facilitators.


9. (SBU) On EC-57 preparations, U.S. Delrep
characterized the dynamic at the agenda preparation
meeting on July 3 as reminiscent of the Second
Review Conference polarization of the Non-aligned
Movement (NAM) against WEOG. Delrep appealed for
delegations to present national, individual views
rather than falling into bloc positions to
encourage NAM delegations to follow suit and not
blindly echo more vocal, extreme NAM countries.
Dutch Ambassador Pieter de Savornin Lohman noted
the unharmonious dynamic between EC Chairman Amb.
Jorge Lomonaco (Mexico) and South African
Ambassador Peter Goosen at the July 3 meeting, and
agreed with Delrep on the usefulness of
individual/national interventions.


10. (SBU) Swedish Ambassador Hans Magnusson
reported on a long meeting that his delegation
(representing the EU) had with the South African
delegation on July 6, saying that Goosen seems to
be preparing for the worst-case scenario and wants
a clear idea on an open, transparent, democratic
process. Goosen sees no problem in borrowing from
the IAEA's rules of procedure and also thinks that
having an open-ended working group actually will
prevent some delegations (e.g., Iran and India)
from hijacking the process. Magnusson said that
Goosen also raised the issue of U.S. and UK
recovered CW in Iraq and the need to discuss how to
deal with similar situations in the future. South
Africa is also unhappy with the DG's report on
tenure policy implementation, which in the past
they have asked to be stronger and more
informative.


11. (SBU) Referring to preparing for a worst-case
scenario, French delegate Annie Mari raised the
possibility of convening a special EC or CSP
meeting if there is no agreement by the December
CSP. German Ambassador Werner Burkart said that he
had encouraged Lomonaco not to wait too long to
reveal his intentions and ideas on how to proceed
after EC-57. Burkart said that people support
Lomonaco but want to know where he is leading them.
Swiss delegate Martin Strub agreed that Lomonaco
would help the current situation and relieve
mounting tensions by indicating the next step or
two. UK delegate Karen Wolstenholme stated that
reaching agreement by EC-58 in October should be a
priority, partly to avoid the risk of new
candidates parachuting in later.


12. (SBU) Moving to the report of the EC visit to
Pueblo and Umatilla, Delrep reported that the U.S.
had provided input and comments quickly and that
Lomonaco was finalizing it before sending to the
Technical Secretariat (TS) for distribution.
Delrep also noted that the updated schedule
projections will be included in the U.S.
presentation during the EC-57 destruction
informals. De Savornin Lohman described the report
as a factual recounting of what the EC
representatives learned in the U.S. along with a
page of the group's observations.


13. (SBU) Italian delegate Giuseppe Cornacchia,
Q13. (SBU) Italian delegate Giuseppe Cornacchia,
facilitator for low concentrations in the Industry
Cluster, announced that the TS will present the
results of the survey on Schedule 2A/2A* thresholds
at the July 9 consultation. Cornacchia also
announced his intention to request that the draft
decision be formalized by making it a conference
room paper in order to have a document to which to
refer in the EC agenda rather than doing everything
informally. Delrep, along with de Savornin Lohman
and Wolstenholme, supported Cornacchia's proposal,
noting his difficulty in even being able to speak
on the status of his consultations in previous EC
sessions due to the lack of any formal EC agenda
item or documents on the issue.

--------------
LAST-MINUTE CANDIDATE FOR DG
--------------


14. (SBU) Just before the July 7 deadline for the
nominations of candidates, Burundi nominated Major
General Evariste Ndayishimiye. The Burundian
ambassador, resident in Brussels, was in The Hague
on July 7 for a TS briefing on the OPCW's Program
for Africa and used the opportunity to deliver
Ndayishimiye's nomination letter. Several
delegates suggested that South Africa put Burundi
up to the nomination or that the nomination may
have been organized at the recent African Union
summit in an effort to have another African
candidate besides Algerian Ambassador Benchaa Dani.
Delreps have heard that a number of African
countries were glad to have an alternative to Dani,
saving them from having to publicly endorse him,
even if they do not plan to support either African
candidate in secret balloting. The Sudanese
Ambassador had not heard the news at a lunch on
July 8; he told Delrep he wished it had been a
"serious candidate."

--------------
CHAIR'S CONSULTATIONS ON THE DG SEARCH
--------------


15. (SBU) On July 7, EC Chairman Lomonaco held a
meeting with selected western and "like-minded"
states, specifically not including those with a
candidate for Director-General. The Dutch and
Czech Ambassadors attended, as did delegates from
Sweden (current EU presidency),Italy, Ireland,
Japan, South Korea, Australia and the U.S.
Lomonaco described a meeting he had had with new
South African Ambassador Goosen following the
rather contentious debate at the EC informals on
July 3 (ref A). Goosen had suggested that South
Africa wanted to help Mexico with drafting a
statement (bilaterally) for the selection
procedures that the Chair could issue; Lomonaco
refused. Based on Goosen's comments to him,
Lomonaco believed that South Africa intends to hold
the EC hostage to a decision on the DG procedures.
He inquired whether the western and like-minded
representatives present would need a consensus
report, whether they would object to voting on the
report, or whether they could support a Chairman's
EC report (as had happened for the CSP in December)
or perhaps a partial report adopted by consensus.


16. (SBU) Czech Ambassador Mares advised against
starting out with procedural votes, a precedent
that could haunt the new Chairman. U.S. Delrep
noted that the agenda for this EC has very few
decisions, but a long list of reports to be noted;
she joined the Czech ambassador in advising against
early voting. Others agreed that the EC should not
continue endlessly if there is not agreement on a
set of procedures for the DG search. Lomonaco said
Qset of procedures for the DG search. Lomonaco said
he intends to close the EC on Friday.


17. (SBU) Lomonaco asked the group whether the open
meeting the NAM was pushing for would be useful.
The group generally agreed that it would be
beneficial to allow delegations to vent steam, that
such a meeting should be open to all interested
parties and limited in time. Lomonaco said he was
looking at Friday, July 10, following the
introduction of the draft budget. He did not plan
to present an agenda but would open the discussion
saying he wanted to hear views and ideas on the
selection process. He did not want the open
meeting to focus on the question and answer portion
of the candidates' presentations; the significant
differences he had heard on that topic in his
consultations might then tie his hands for the
session at the EC the next week. Rather, he plans
to consult the EC Bureau on Q and A procedures,
proposing five questions for each candidate,
questions from one state (in a national capacity)
from each regional group, and limited time for both
questions and answers.


18. (SBU) Lomonaco then outlined for the small
group his current thinking on the selection process
that he will likely codify in a Chairman's
statement after the open meeting. He would
emphasize the "common ground" of an open
transparent process and decision by consensus. He
will NOT/NOT include a regional rotation for the
DG, sending two or three candidates to the CSP, or
anything that is not consistent with the Convention
or Rules of Procedure. His projected timeline
would allow for a period of evaluation by member
states following the presentations of the
candidates and for consultations with capitals;
after the August break, he would begin
consultations on states' preferences, using tools
like straw polls and "confessional meetings" to
find early and clear trends and allow him to
discuss with the candidates or their
representatives possible withdrawal from
consideration. He would continue in successive
cycles, informing states of the progress made. At
EC-58, he would try to further reduce the number
and identify a consensus candidate. If no
consensus emerges, he would look to informal secret
ballots to reduce the number or to identify a
candidate with two-thirds support. Only after
exhausting all possibilities for consensus would a
formal vote be possible.


19. (SBU) Lomonaco noted that a statement by the
Chairman does not require approval or consensus by
the Council, but he had concluded that he needs to
"pronounce himself" beyond the general statements
he has made to date. He would look to the
prospective open meeting for ideas and common
elements to include in his statement.

--------------
OPEN INFORMAL MEETING ON THE DG SEARCH
--------------


20. (SBU) EC Chairman Lomonaco opened the meeting
July 10 by stating that there seems to be clear
agreement on the principles of transparency,
openness and fairness, as well as reaching
consensus on a candidate by EC-58 in October. He
described the differences among delegations as
being primarily some favoring a flexible process
and others a more regulated one. Lomonaco
expressed hope on finding common ground on the
process for the weeks and months ahead. Indian
delegate Pankaj Sharma introduced the non-paper
drafted by "interested parties" (India, Cuba, South
Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Malaysia,
QAfrica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Malaysia,
Venezuela and China),outlining the paper's main
themes: a fair, open and transparent process; the
goal of consensus; and a proposed set of procedures
for use in case consensus is not achievable.


21. (SBU) The tone of the meeting was respectful,
positive and substantive, in stark contrast to the
July 3 meeting (ref A),when the DG search was last
discussed during the review of the EC-57 Agenda.
Notably, South African Ambassador Peter Goosen
reversed his previous attacks and was effusive in
his compliments to the Chairman and other
delegations who participated. Several ambassadors
noted the constructive tone of the discussion and
welcomed the change in atmosphere.


22. (SBU) Nearly every speaker welcomed the new
paper, although most had only received it that
morning. Delegates generally supported some of the
ideas in the paper, particularly its emphasis on
consensus and useful tools like straw polls.
However, the paper's proposals for voting caused
significant debate among delegations. A number of
delegations (Ireland, U.S., Sweden, Spain,
Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Germany and South
Korea) voiced concern over the paragraph (7) in the
paper that a recommendation to the Conference of
States Parties could be more than one name, and
insisted that the EC must recommend one candidate
to the CSP for appointment.


23. (SBU) Several delegations, led by South Africa,
called for additional review/consultations on this
draft paper, but suggested different times to do
so, both before and after EC-57. Western and Latin
American representatives voiced strong support for
the Chairman, with several calling for him to
announce his intentions for the process
(Netherlands, France, Brazil, Japan, Germany,
Italy). Australian delegate Mike Byers stated that
the process for appointment is to be determined by
the Chairperson and not by consensus.

--------------
DG UNVEILS DRAFT 2010 BUDGET
--------------


24. (U) On July 10, the DG presented his draft
budget and program of work for 2010 to delegations
and also introduced the budget co-facilitators,
Amb. Francisco Aguilar (Costa Rica) and Martin
Strub (Switzerland). (DEL NOTE: The draft budget
was emailed to ISN/CB and IO/MPR on July 10. END
NOTE.) The DG gave an overview of the budget and
highlighted that it remains at the same level as
the 2009 approved budget (EUR 74.5 million),
representing the fifth year of sustained zero-
nominal growth, which he described as a
"considerable achievement." The DG also noted the
reintroduction of sub-programs and the improvement
in results based budgeting standards, including
more measurable key performance indicators. On a
related note, the DG reiterated his intention to
circulate the annual performance report at the end
of year.


25. (U) Other highlights of the budget:
- 50.1% for Chapter 1 (Verification and
Inspections) and 49.9 for Chapter 2 (Administration
and other programs);
- 0.4% reduction in assessed contributions for
2010;
- fixed-term staffing remains at 523 and temporary
staff (TACs) reduced to 13;
- 5.6% increase in International Cooperation and
Assistance (the DG noted that ICA's budget has
increased 40% from 2003 to 2010);
- slight increases (0.4% each) in Verification and
Inspections;
- reductions (1%-2.4%)in all other program areas;
- 210 Article VI inspections (128 OCPF, 29 Schedule
3, 42 Schedule 2 and 11 Schedule 1),with sampling
Q3, 42 Schedule 2 and 11 Schedule 1),with sampling
and analysis for 10 of the Schedule 2 inspections;
- all four U.S. CWDFs listed as operational for 12
months each;
- three Russian CWDFs (Maradykovsky, Shchuchye and
Leonidovka) listed as operational for 12 months
each, Pochep for 10 months and Kizner for 6 months;
- Libya's CWDF listed as operational for 10 months
- funding for only one session of the Scientific
Advisory Board (SAB).

--------------
EXTERNAL AUDITOR'S REPORT
--------------


26. (U) Departing Japanese delegate Takayuki
Kitagawa held his last consultation on July 10 to
look at the External Auditor's Report and Audited
Financial Statements for 2008 (EC-57/DG.13*).
Director of Administration Ron Nelson attended and
responded to the few questions raised by
delegations. Kitagawa started the meeting by
reviewing the relevant portion of the report from
the most recent meeting of the Advisory Body on
Administrative and Financial Matters (ABAF) dealing
with the External Auditor's Report. He then went
through the External Auditor's Report section-by-
section.


27. (U) German delegate Ruth Surkau asked about a
discrepancy in two tables in the External Auditor's
Report, which the ABAF had highlighted. Nelson
responded that neither the TS nor the ABAF had the
authority to correct the error but would discuss it
with the External Auditor when he presents his
report formally to EC-57 on July 16. Kitagawa
suggested that the TS could, with the External
Auditor's permission, issue a corrigendum with the
corrected information. Per guidance, U.S. Delrep
asked what the TS has done to prevent abuses of the
dependency benefits noted in the report. Nelson
responded that the issue had been discussed
thoroughly with ABAF and that the TS has tightened
procedures so that all benefits claims are checked
by two different reviewers. At the end of the
meeting, delegates agreed that Kitagawa could
recommend the Council note the report at EC-57 and
also thanked him for his service as facilitator.


28. (U) BEIK SENDS.

FOSTER