CWC: WRAP-UP FOR OPCW EXECUTIVE COUNCIL SESSION,

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000452

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, DENYER AND CRISTOFARO)
NSC FOR LUTES
WINPAC FOR WALTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CWC: WRAP-UP FOR OPCW EXECUTIVE COUNCIL SESSION,
JULY 14-17, 2009 (EC-57)

REF: A. THE HAGUE 437

B. THE HAGUE 402 STATE 72671

(U) This is CWC-45-09

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


1. (SBU) The 57th session of the Executive Council
(EC) of the Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) successfully concluded, and
on schedule, with a full day devoted to the
presentations by the candidates for Director
General (July 15) and major agreement in the
Council by the end of the week supporting the
Chairperson on his next steps for the selection of
the new Director-General. A large number of
routine business items were completed. The U.S.
request to remove from the agenda notes on
technical changes to facility agreements that did
not require Council approval resulted in future
procedures that will prevent other delegations from
continually deferring such agenda items from one
session to the next. The issue of U.S. and UK
recovered chemical weapons in Iraq was discussed
under Any Other Business, with agreement to a
British proposal for consultations "at an
appropriate time" about a future similar
circumstance, rather than an open-ended working
group as suggested by South Africa.


2. (U) This cable follows the summary overview of
EC-57 in Ref A, and details the plenary meetings of
the Council with the issues discussed roughly in
the order of the agenda. A list of approved, noted
and deferred items is at the end of this cable.
The DG candidates' presentations will be reported
separately, as will the informal meeting on
destruction issues July 13, and meetings on the
margins of the Council session.

--------------
DIRECTOR GENERAL'S STATEMENT
--------------


3. (U) The new Chairperson of the Executive
Council, Ambassador Jorge Lomonaco (Mexico),
formally convened the 57th session of the EC on
July 14. The four new vice-chairpersons briefed
the Council on the progress of the various clusters
since the previous session: Ambassador Pieter de
Savornin Lohman (Netherlands) on chemical weapons
destruction issues, Ambassador Abuelgasim Idris
(Sudan) on the industry cluster of issues, Dr.
Hassan Vejdani (Iran) on administrative and
financial matters, and Ambassador Kirill Gevorgian
(Russia) on legal, organizational, and other
issues. Of note, Idris expressed his desire to
have a decision on low concentration thresholds for
Schedule 2A/2A* chemicals this year, and the
Iranian Vice Chairperson welcomed new facilitator
Nikolas Granger (U.S.),as well as new budget
facilitators Francisco Aguilar (Costa Rica) and
Martin Strub (Switzerland)). Facilitator Annie
Mari (France) then reported on the Open-Ended
Working Group on Terrorism and presented a national
paper at the conclusion of her service at OPCW.
Lomonaco, who oversees the OEWG on Terrorism,
introduced the new facilitator, Mike Byers
(Australia).


4. Following the adoption of the agenda, Director-
General Pfirter delivered his detailed opening
statement covering OPCW activity since the last
Council pertaining to chemical demilitarization,
verification, international cooperation and

assistance, implementation of Article VII,
universality, external relations, and
administrative and financial matters.

Highlights included:
- An update on the status of destruction efforts in
the United States and Russian Federation, including
a description of the current activities at each of
the CWDF's in each of the two States Parties.
- A report on his recent trip to the United States,
which included the Executive Council
representatives' visit to Pueblo and Umatilla, and
his meetings with senior politicians and U.S.
Government officials in Washington. Pfirter noted
and commended the firm assurances by U.S. officials
of the strong support of the U.S. for the CWC and
OPCW.
- The DG noted Libya's expected request (before the
October EC) for an extension of its destruction
deadline and the importance of taking prompt
action.
- The Technical Secretariat (TS) is planning a
meeting in Baghdad between the TS and the Iraqi
National Authority to finalize plans for the
initial verification visit to the Al-Muthanna and
Falluja storage sites.
- A workshop on matters concerning Other Chemical
Production Facilities (OCPF) will be held November
25-26, 2009, in The Hague under the chairmanship of
Ambassador Medeiros (Brazil).
- The third OPCW exercise on the delivery of
assistance (ASSISTEX III) will be held in Tunis,
Tunisia on October 11-15, 2010. The DG highlighted
several courses that took place since the last
Council in the area of international cooperation
and assistance.
- On Article VII, 180 States Parties have now met
their obligation to notify the OPCW of their
designation of a National Authority. Mexico's
implementing legislation recently entered into
force, bringing the number of States Parties with
legislation covering all key areas to 85.
- Regarding universality, the Technical Secretariat
conducted a "technical goodwill" mission to Israel.
Egypt has agreed in principle to a similar event.
There is no substantive progress to report
regarding Myanmar or North Korea.
-- He proposed a new Challenge Inspection exercise
for 2010 and encouraged regions that have not
hosted such an exercise to volunteer to host it.
-- Stressing the need for member states to pay
their assessments in full and on-time, the
Technical Secretariat has received sixty-two
percent of annual State Party payments as of May
31, 2009.
- The DG unveiled the Draft 2010 Program and Budget
the week prior to the Council. He repeated key
points in this formal meeting of the EC. The
budget encompasses EUR 74.5 million, which
represents zero nominal growth compared to 2009.
Notable shifts in funding include a 5.6% increase
in International Cooperation and Assistance, much
of which would go to the Africa Program. Member
contributions are forecast to decrease by 0.4
percent.

--------------
GENERAL DEBATE
--------------


5. (U) Following the DG's statement, the general
debate featured many recurring topics, including
congratulatory notes for the Bahamas (the 188th
State Party),continued efforts for complete
universality, and full implementation of Article
XI. Many statements touched on the selection
process for a new Director-General and the CW
destruction timelines in light of recent
developments among possessor states, though
statements generally fell into two different camps
on these two issues.


6. (U) The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and China,
and the Africa Group in joint statements and in
national statements by members of both groups
continued to support a more regulated process for
selection of the DG, with the African statement
expressing concern over the lack of a formal
procedure. The European Union, Latin American
Group (GRULAC),U.S., Japan and Russia supported
the ongoing open selection process under the EC
Chairperson, with the U.S. noting that there is no
need to develop new rules for a process that
already is underway.


7. (U) Many States Parties addressed the looming
2012 destruction deadline and the status of
possessor states' progress in meeting that goal.
Taking a positive tone, Japan expressed
appreciation for the strong commitment of the
United States, while the EU stated that possessor
states should be mindful of their obligations and
make every effort to complete destruction on time.
The U.S. provided an overview of its destruction
accomplishments to date and its expectation to
destroy 90 percent of its stockpile by the 2012
deadline, as well as the Obama Administration's
efforts to review options to accelerate
destruction.


8. (U) Calling for realism, Brazil indicated that
the Council should promote a multilateral
discussion on the feasibility of the final 2012
deadline and charge the Chairman with engaging
interested delegations on the debate. Iran
underscored that preserving the integrity of the
Treaty should not be limited to just transparency
visits but that the Council should play a key role
as the guardian of the Convention. The South
African Ambassador (on behalf of the Africa Group)
expressed concern at the large quantity of CW that
has yet to be destroyed and said that careful
consideration should be given to how the OPCW will
manage the inability of member states to meet the
2012 deadline. Furthermore, he remarked that it is
essential that no action be taken to undermine the
Convention, and that any solution would by
necessity need to "maintain pressure" on those
States that have yet to meet the destruction
deadline. Taking full advantage of its relatively
new status as a non-possessor state, India offered
to share its experience in destruction technologies
with the remaining possessor states and expressed
appreciation for the "enormity of the magnitude" of
the U.S. destruction obligations, having recently
met its own destruction goals ahead of schedule.


9. (U) Industry-related issues surfaced in a number
of statements, particularly discussions of
verification of Other Chemical Production
Facilities (OCPF). The EU supported strengthening
the industry regime through better focused
inspections and noted that the Convention needs to
take economic, scientific and technological
developments into account. Regarding low
concentrations of Schedule 2A/2A* chemicals, Japan
stressed that a logical sequence is essential in
determining a threshold, but noted that it is
flexible in the interest of consensus building. The
U.S., on the other hand, commented that a political
compromise is unlikely to equate with any state's
current threshold. On OPCFs, Brazil noted, that
the current proposed OPCF site selection changes
would result in a substantial qualitative
improvement in the capacity of the TS to select
more relevant OCPF sites for inspections. China
called for industry verification to be reasonably
distributed according to the levels of risk of
facilities, while taking full account of equitable
geographical distribution. China's statement
continued that the 2008 trial methodology
concentrated inspections in certain regions of the
world. Iran highlighted the need for detailed
information on the performance of the interim
methodology saying the current information was
insufficient.


10. (U) The majority of India's statement was
devoted to two technical industry issues: additions
to the OPCW's chemical analytical database (OCAD)
and the two proposals regarding the enhancement of
OCPF declarations. India borrowed heavily from its
non-paper on the inclusion of non-Scheduled
chemicals in the OCAD in its critique of OCAD
additions, and stressed concerns with the TS use of
voluntary State Party submissions of additional
declaration data.


11. (U) Serbia announced that it held a course on
Article X Assistance and Protection, noting the
course was a practical tool to exchange views and
assess state needs. Brazil announced the First
Regional Assistance and Protection course on
chemical-Emergency Response took place successfully
in Brasilia 24-29 May 2009, including 13 States and
included the TS. Iran called for adequate
resources to be provided to the OPCW to enable it
to respond to States Parties requesting assistance
and protection against chemical weapons. Saudi
Arabia and Sri Lanka noted the contribution the CWC
makes in combating terrorism especially in the
context of enhancing international cooperation for
peaceful purposes. Nigeria noted the need for the
OPCW to rise to the challenge of terrorism and to
be prepared to assist States Parties in the event
of an attack, and cited the importance of the
assistance program such as ASSISTEX 3 scheduled for
October 2010 in Tunisia. Bosnia and Herzegovina
stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
OPCW held a seminar on non-proliferation and
indicated that its intention was to take a holistic
approach to WMD nonproliferation and Counter
Terrorism.


12. (U) Iran opened with a strong description of
Iraqi bombing of Sardasht in 1987 and noted its
reference was to serve to strengthen the Members'
will to pursue Organizational goals efficiently.
Iraq replied that CW was used against many martyrs
in Iraq in Halabja and that event was a motivation
for joining the CWC. Iraq also noted that it would
provide the TS with its destruction plan soon.


13. (U) A few States Parties commented on the U.S.
and UK destruction of recovered CW in Iraq. The
Russian Federation reserved the right to return to
the issue, while the Africa Group commented that
the negotiators of the Convention had not foreseen
such a circumstance. South Africa (through the
African Group statement) called for the Council,
U.S. and UK to develop agreed procedures that would
apply to such a situation in the future. (Del
note: This was discussed further under "Any Other
Business" -- see below.)

--------------
VERIFICATION PLANS AND FACILITY AGREEMENTS
--------------


14. (SBU) On July 14, Iran tried to defer the
three TS notes regarding technical changes to
fourteen U.S. facility agreements for CWDFs,
Schedule 1 facilities and CWSFs. The U.S.
countered that the agreements did not require
Council action but were submitted for its
information as a transparency measure. When the
agenda item came up again on July 16, the U.S. Rep
requested removal of the items from the agenda;
Iran objected as they had not received instructions
from Tehran. South Africa expressed concerns that
the move by the U.S. might set a poor precedent
while the DG noted that no action was required by
the Council. Germany suggested in future practice
that the TS list such agenda items as being
submitted for information only. After an hour of
debate, Chile expressed frustration and made a
formal request for the Secretariat to provide the
cost per minute of EC debate including overhead.
When compromise report language was suggested by
Ireland, Iran joined the Council in recording the
U.S. request to remove these items from the agenda
for the next session of the Council.

--------------

CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS PRODUCTION
FACILITIES
--------------



15. (SBU) South Africa requested discussion of the
TS guidelines on continued verification for
converted chemical weapons production facilities
ten years after the DG's certification of their
conversion before consideration of a draft decision
on the matter. Dutch Ambassador Lohman, Vice-
Chairman for the issue, offered to meet with
interested delegations.


16. (SBU) The UK requested deferral of the CWPF
at Portreath, due to new information on the
facility that would shortly be reported to the TS.
Lohman held one discussion with a handful of
delegations, but both items were deferred to the
next session of the Council. (Del comment: The UK
delegate said later that Russian objections are
focused on cost, while the UK wants each facility
to be considered on a case-by-case basis rather
than the "one size fits all" approach of the TS
guidelines).

-------------- -
DESTRUCTION DEADLINES AND EC VISIT TO THE U.S.
-------------- -


17. (SBU) During the discussion of the 90-day
destruction reports, India questioned that local
laws could trump an international convention and
offered its willingness to share its heel
technology to assist in chemical demilitarization
activities. Iran requested deferral of the US 90-
day report to the next EC, to which the U.S.
responded that the U.S. report should be considered
with all other 90-day reports. Delrep noted that
the report was simply providing progress on
destruction during the reporting period and should
be noted during the current session. Later, the
Iranian delegate approached Delrep to ask whether
the "chapeau" language used for the 90-day reports
in previous Council sessions (emphasizing "the
timely commencement of destruction activities at
all chemical weapons destruction facilities") was
acceptable. With that language, Iran agreed to
note the U.S. report with all of the others.


18. (SBU) When the report on the Executive Council
visit came up for discussion on July 14, South
Africa noted that it did not have any issue noting
the report but that it would like to insert report
language in the final EC report. There was no
further discussion and the Chairperson gaveled
through the agenda item noting the report. Iran
then indicated it misunderstood the Chairperson's
intention. Lomonaco held to the Council's action
as completed, to note the report when it was
gaveled through. When Chile and Costa Rica
objected to reopening the item, the U.S. offered to
meet with any delegation that had questions
concerning the U.S. destruction program. After
repeated push-back from the Iranian delegation on
what had occurred procedurally, the Secretariat, in
a highly unusual move, indicated it would revisit
the video recordings to ensure that the Chairman
had indeed posed the question of whether the
Council wanted to note the report-- the first
"instant replay" in historical memory at the OPCW.


19. (SBU) On the final day of the Council (July
17),Iran requested and took the floor to return to
the adoption of the report of the Visit to the
Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plan,
Colorado and the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal
Facility, Oregon. The Iranian delegate reiterated
that he had been confused by the proceedings
earlier in the week and that there was insufficient
time to review the document. Chairperson Lomonaco
inquired as to whether the parties that had
objected would withdraw their objections. Chile
withdrew its objection. Costa Rica was absent
(reportedly by design). Lomonaco then asked the
Council for any other objections. When no
objections were made, he re-opened the agenda item
on the EC visit report, and Iran requested deferral
to the next session. That also found no
objections, although it eliminated the possibility
of South Africa's report language, which that
delegation had been working actively in the
corridors.

--------------
ARTICLE XI
--------------


20. (U) The Council welcomed Chen Kai (China) as
the new facilitator for Article XI issues. During
the final review of the report for EC-57, Cuba
offered report language on the agenda for Article
XI and its 2008 proposal for a workshop. The UK
raised an objection to new material being brought
into the final report that had not been discussed,
with the U.S. adding concern about decisions being
taken through report language rather than agreed in
plenary debate. Cuba explained that the suggested
language came from past EC reports and from a
number of statements in the General Debate. The EC
agreed to the language being added to the report.

--------------
DESIGNATED LABORATORIES
--------------


21. (U) France raised questions about the contents
of the TS Note on Designated Laboratories. Russia
requested that the document be deferred. The
United States stated that, although the document
raises some practical questions, it could be noted.
There was a lengthy discourse between Iran and the
Technical Secretariat on how the procedures for
off-site analysis of samples were established.
Iran stated that even though they do not have a
national laboratory, they would be interested in
contributing to the development of procedures. TS
Verification Director Reeps stated that only
designated labs can participate. In this instance,
those that participated in the last proficiency
test coordinated on the document. Although the TS
is currently seeking comments on the document, the
TS can only accept comments from certified labs.
The TS document was ultimately deferred.

--------------
ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL MATTERS
--------------


22. (U) Most of the routine administrative reports
were noted. However, Iran and South Africa raised
objections to the DG's report on implementation of
the tenure policy in 2008. Both delegations stated
that additional information had previously been
requested in the report that had not been added.
The Director General himself responded with a long
oration about the regulatory framework under which
he operates in providing the information, as well
as privacy concerns for the staff. He stated that,
unless the Conference of States Parties decides to
have information on nationalities of staff included
in published reports, he would not provide it.
Delegations could request privately statistics on
staff that they were interested in. The Convention
itself emphasizes the qualifications of staff and
does not instruct the DG to hire based on country
of origin, although geographical diversity is
considered. The DG advised countries that would
like to have more of their nationals working at the
OPCW to encourage qualified applicants to apply.

--------------
DATES FOR 2010 COUNCIL MEETINGS
--------------


23. (U) China requested that the dates for EC-59 in
February 2010 be moved due to the Chinese New Year
holiday. The U.S. supported the request. Approved
dates for the 2010 Executive Council sessions are:

EC-59 February 23-36
EC-60 April 20-23
EC-61 June 29-July 2
EC-62 October 5-8.

It was noted that CSP-15 will take place November
29 to December 3, 2010.

--------------
SELECTION OF A NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL
--------------


24. (SBU) On Thursday afternoon (July 16),
following the candidates' presentations the day
before, Chairperson Lomonaco opened the discussion
of the selection of a new Director-General stating
that he had conducted extensive consultations with
States Parties and regional groups and had taken
into consideration their ideas and written
proposals. He then distributed his personal
statement on next steps toward finding a consensus
candidate. Lomonaco's "road map" includes a period
of reflection during the summer break for
delegations and their capitals to evaluate the
various meetings with the candidates, including
their presentations to the EC, and to assess the
candidates' qualifications and priorities for the
position. Beginning in September, Lomonaco will
consult actively with delegations to determine
preferences and to start narrowing down the field
of candidates. He announced that he would be
available in The Hague as early as August 4 to meet
with interested delegations.


25. (SBU) Lomonaco will use a series of
consultations, "confessional meetings" and, as
appropriate, straw polls, to identify trends to

discuss with the candidates or their
representatives. This would allow candidates to
reassess their standing, with a view to some
withdrawing. He would use voting as a last resort,
either in informal balloting to reduce the number
of candidates, or a formal vote in the Council as
the final stage of the process if no consensus
candidate emerges.


26. (U) Lomonaco hoped that his statement would be
noted, but said that Council action was not
necessary, as this was his personal statement.
Eighteen States Parties from the Western, Eastern
European, African and Asian regions took the floor,
thanking the Chairperson, welcoming his emphasis on
seeking consensus, and supporting his road map.
South Africa, Russia, China and Pakistan indicated
that they wished to study the statement before
noting it, and Lomonaco agreed to allow a short
discussion of the agenda item the next morning.


27. (U) On the final day of the session, the South
African Ambassador agreed to noted the
Chairperson's statement. Nigeria also expressed
support for the statement. With no further
comments, the Council noted the statement.

--------------
ANY OTHER BUSINESS -- RECOVERED CW IN IRAQ
--------------


28. (SBU) Following South Africa's statement in
the General Debate on the chemical weapons
destroyed in Iraq prior to its accession to the
CWC, both the UK and U.S. delegations held
bilateral discussions with South African Ambassador
Peter Goosen. Goosen said he wished to work toward
filling the "gap" in the Convention for future such
instances, since the CWC does not cover situations
of conflict in a non-member State. He also made
clear that he thought there should be a working
group on the issue.


29. (SBU) The UK decided to make a statement under
"Any Other Business" and the U.S. followed suit.
The two delegations met together with the South
African delegation on July 17 to discuss possible
report language. In an effort to fend off the
South African proposal for a working group, the UK
offered milder report language on "consultations,
as appropriate." South Africa intervened to say
that such consultations should begin as soon as
possible, but that South Africa would not be
available to chair the effort. Clearly not
catching the future orientation and theoretical
bent of the British language, Russia noted that
they were still carefully monitoring the
destruction of recovered rounds in Iraq by the U.S.
and UK and that further information on the matter
would be needed.


30. (U) Iran requested written copies of the U.S.
and UK statements to the Council before agreeing to
the report language on the matter.


31. (U) The Council session ended at 1300 hours, a
record in recent memory.

--------------
ITEMS APPROVED
--------------


32. (U) The following agenda items were approved:

EC-57/DEC/CRP.5 - amendments to the verification
plan for destruction at Maradykovsky, Russian
Federation.

EC-57/DEC/CRP.2 - amendments to the verification
plan for destruction at Ruwagha and Rabta, Libya.

EC-57/DEC/CRP.4 - modifications to the facility
agreement with the Russian Federation regarding on-
site inspections at Maradykovsky.

EC-57/DEC/CRP.6 - revisions to the specifications
for two items of approved inspection equipment.

EC-57/DEC/CRP.3 - removal of data recommended for
removal from the Central Analytical Database.

EC-56/DG.3 - note by the Director-General on the
reclassification of posts.

EC-57/S/7 - appointment of Mr. Ali Gholampour
(Iran) to the Advisory Body on Administrative
Affairs.

EC-57/DG.7 - report by the Director-General on the
credentials of representatives of members of the
Council.

--------------
ITEMS DEFERRED
--------------


33. (U) The following documents were deferred:

EC-57/DEC/CRP.1 - proposal for general guidelines
on the nature of continued verification measures at
converted chemical weapons production facilities.

EC-53/S/1 and EC-53/DEC/CRP.1 - verification for
Portreath, UK, certification of conversion and
draft decisions (withdrawn from consideration by
the Council for revision).

EC-57/12 - report on the visit to Pueblo and
Umatilla.

EC-57/S/3 - content of the assistance and
protection databank and its use.

EC-53/S/5 and EC-53/DG.11 - characteristics of
plant sites in other chemical production facility
declarations and enhancement of declarations.

EC-55/DG.8 - report by the Director-General on site
selection methodology.

S/773/2009 - note by the secretariat on electronic
submission of annual declarations.

EC-57/DG.5 - note by the Director-General regarding
off-site analysis and confidentiality.

EC-57/CRP.1 - draft report of the OPCW for 2008

EC/57/S/1 - note by the secretariat on the
continued inclusion of derivatives in the Central
Analytical Database.

EC-57/DG.4 - report by the Director-General on the
implementation of the policy on tenure.

--------------
ITEMS NOTED
--------------


34. (U) The Council noted the following documents:

EC-57/DEC/CRP.4 - modifications to the facility
agreement with Libya regarding on-site inspections.
EC-57/NAT.1 - Libya national paper on status of
destruction obligations.

EC-57/NAT.2 - U.S. national paper on status of
destruction obligations.

EC-57/HP/NAT.2 - India national paper on status of
destruction obligations.

EC-57/P/NAT.1 - Russia national paper on status of
destruction obligations.

EC-57/NAT.4 - China national paper on status of
chemical weapons abandoned by Japan.

EC-57/NAT.3 - Japan national paper on current
status of abandoned chemical weapons projects in
China.

EC-57/HP/DG.1 - 2008 Verification Implementation
Report and chairperson's summary of consultations.

EC-55/DG.13 - Director General's report on the
status of implementation of Article XI.

EC-57/DG.8 - report by the Director-General on
timely submission of declarations.

EC-56/DG.6 C-14/DG.3 - report of the office of
internal oversight.

EC-54/DG.14 - note by the Director-General on a
long-term mechanism for the management of risks
associated with currency exchange rates.

EC-57/DG.12 - report by the Director- General on
the introduction of International Public Sector
Accounting Standards.

EC-57/DG.1 - report of the Security Audit Team V.

ABAF-26/1 - report of the Advisory Body on
Administrative and Financial Matters.

SAB-13/1 - report of the thirteenth session of the
Scientific Advisory Board

EC-57/DG.14 C-14/DG.5 - note by the Director-
General in response to the report of the Scientific
Advisory Board.


35. (U) BEIK SENDS.
GALLAGHER