CWC: WRAP-UP FOR TWO WEEKS FROM SEPTEMBER 21 TO

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000597

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 OPCW CWC
SUBJECT: CWC: WRAP-UP FOR TWO WEEKS FROM SEPTEMBER 21 TO
OCTOBER 2, 2009

REF: A. THE HAGUE 566

B. THE HAGUE 584

This is CWC-57-09

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


1. (SBU) In the run-up to the 58th Executive
Council (EC-58),the frequency and number of
meetings at the OPCW has increased. This cable
covers the two weeks from September 21 to October 2
including the regular weekly meeting of the Western
European and Others Group (WEOG); a range of budget
consultations; and consultations on articles VII, X
and XI.


2. (SBU) Dr. Robert Mikulak, ISN/CB Director and
U.S. Representative to the Executive Council,
visited The Hague on September 24 to consult with
key delegations on the selection of a new Director-
General (DG) for the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),as reported
in Ref B. Other reporting on the DG selection will
be sent septel following the first informal straw
poll scheduled for October 5.

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


3. (SBU) Coordinator Ruth Surkau (Germany) convened
the WEOG on September 22. Budget Co-Facilitator
Martin Strub (Switzerland) stated his expectation
that the afternoon's budget meeting would likely
include discussion on key performance indicators
(KPIs) and the budget of the Office of Special
Projects (OSP). Strub stated that the South
African delegate had voiced an intention to
challenge OSP's existence, as he did last year.
Delrep stated that the elimination of this office
is not a budget decision but rather a policy
decision for the Conference of the States Parties
(CSP).


4. (SBU) EC Vice-Chairperson Ambassador Lohman (the
Netherlands) stated that Iran had continued to
press for attention to the report from the visit in
June by EC representatives to the U.S. and for a
strong statement against delays in U.S.
destruction. At the request of EC Chairperson
Ambassador Lomonaco (Mexico),Lohman will convene
informal consultations on the visit report before
EC-58. Swedish Delegate Lodding enquired about the
format for the meeting and suggested that the
report's authors are answerable for the report, and
questions specific to the U.S. program should be
deferred to bilateral discussions or the informal
destruction consultations. Delrep suggested that
this meeting be held just in advance of the EC
which may also allow for the Indian representative
who attended the visit and is from capital to be
present for the meeting. (Del note: Lohmans's
meeting on the report of the visit in June to the
U.S. is scheduled for October 8. End note.)


5. (SBU) Lohman also gave a summary of the EC
Bureau's meeting the week before in which Lomonaco
outlined progress on the selection of the next DG.
Based on his "confessional" meetings, Lomonaco
feels that there are clear and consistent trends,
and he intends to approach relevant, or lower-
ranked, candidates about his findings. Lomonaco
planned to convene a meeting on September 29 to
inform EC members of any withdrawals and to call
for a straw poll if not. (Del note: No candidates

have withdrawn. The straw poll is scheduled for
the morning of October 5. End note.)


6. (SBU) Delrep intervened to inform the group that
the Libyan deadline extension request was available
for review and inquired if there were any
preliminary impressions. Swedish Delegate Lodding
stated that this might be handled as a revision of
an earlier EC decision since Libya's request does
not go beyond the 2012 deadline. French Delegate
Rabia stated that France had been approached in
Tripoli to support the request. Surkau will
include the item for future discussion in WEOG.


7. (SBU) Mike Byers (Australia),Facilitator of the
Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Terrorism,
described his intentions for the OEWG, including
having an open discussion with member states to
solicit input and concerns on the OEWG's priorities
and activities. Byers suggested convening this
session on October 6, however multiple delegates
(from the Netherlands, France and the UK)
recommended postponing such a session until after
EC-58. Byers responded that there is value in
parallel meetings, particularly as the budget
discussions on the Office of Special Projects may
affect the OEWG. Delrep encouraged WEOG members to
defend the OEWG and to be prepared to contribute to
its future agenda.

--------------
BUDGET CONSULTATIONS

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EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT, ERD AND PMO
--------------


8. (SBU) Co-Facilitator Francisco Aguilar (Costa
Rica) convened the budget meeting on September 22
to discuss the Executive Management offices,
External Relations Division (ERD) and Support for
the Policy-Making Organs (PMO). There were few
questions on most of the office programs, and some,
like the Office of Internal Oversight and the
Health and Safety Branch had no comments or
questions at all. For ERD, questions centered on
KPIs pertaining to travel and the overlap with the
International Cooperation and Assistance (ICA)
Branch and with the Office of Special Projects
(OSP). The South African delegate also questioned
the transfer of one professional position from ERD;
the DDG responded that it was a temporary shift of
one position to the DG's office. The Dutch
Ambassador inquired about the projected increase in
media coverage, to which the DDG replied that two
new staff members have been added to the Media
section and there are a growing number of hits on
the web site, so the Technical Secretariat (TS)
considered 10% a reasonable increase in projected
activity.


9. (U) On his own office, the DDG noted that travel
for the Scientific Advisory Body is included in his
budget, but now broken out to show that it is not
his own travel. Labib Sahab (Head, Budget
Planning) explained the "other staff costs" items
and the new separation of travel costs for
consultants, located in the DG's section of the
budget.


10. (U) Director of Special Projects Paturej
presented his budget as the smallest section and of
the same size (3 people) as when the office was
created 12 years before. He outlined his counter-
terrorism work, coordination with stakeholders, and
Qterrorism work, coordination with stakeholders, and
joint activities with ICA and ERD, as well as his
fundraising role. The Iranian delegation objected

to the use of "weapons of mass destruction" as
being over-broad for the chemical weapons mandate
of the Organization. Paturej noted that it was the
same language as in the budget last year; the DDG
assured the Iranians that only chemical weapons are
within OPCW's mandate but that OPCW's work
contributes to the broader WMD agenda as reflected
in the language. The South African delegate then
launched into a series of questions on OSP's
activities and the overlap with other branches; he
also questioned why counter-terrorism, which should
be an integral part of the OPCW's work, is still
considered a "special project." He requested a
formal break-down of the work being done by OSP,
particularly with relation to other divisions.
Delegates from the Czech Republic, the Netherlands
and Australia spoke in support of OSP's cross-
cutting work. The South African delegate
reiterated his request for the budget breakdown for
OSP activities, which the DDG promised to provide
at a future meeting. (Del note: Delrep later
learned that the breakdown was provided bilaterally
to the South African delegation in order to avoid
further discussion on OSP at later consultations.
End note.)

ADMINISTRATION DIVISION AND MEDIUM-TERM PLAN
--------------


11. (U) On September 24, Co-Facilitator Martin
Strub (Switzerland) convened a consultation on the
Administration Division's budget, the final in the
series of consultations focusing on specific
divisions within the TS. Administration Director
Ron Nelson reported no significant changes in his
Division's budget for 2010 and explained that the
reduction in staff turn-over costs (EUR 300,000
less than in 2009) is based on estimates of tenure-
related separations. Responding to a question
posed by the South African delegate on moving to
International Public Sector Accounting Standards
(IPSAS),Nelson said that the TS will continue to
engage an external consultant but is on track to
have everything in place by the end of 2010 for a
full roll-out of IPSAS beginning in 2011.


12. (SBU) Moving to the Medium-Term Plan for 2010-
2012, the South African delegate asked why the TS
plans to deploy more contract (SSA) inspectors
rather than hiring more fixed-term inspectors. The
DDG noted that using SSA inspectors provides the TS
with flexibility to respond to fluctuating
verification needs. Acting Inspectorate Director
Renato Carvalho added that destruction activity is
expected to peak in 2011 and then drop
substantially in 2012, so having experienced SSA
inspectors for a year is more practical than
recruiting and then training inspectors who
ostensibly would expect to work for three to seven
years. The South African delegate then launched
into a debate on whether SSA inspectors can be
trusted and questioning their loyalty to the OPCW.
The DDG stressed that using SSA inspectors has been
endorsed by all member states in previous budgets
and medium-term plans and does not represent a new
mode of operation for the Organization.

BUDGET WRAP-UP SESSION 1
--------------


13. (U) On September 28, Aguilar chaired the first
Q13. (U) On September 28, Aguilar chaired the first
wrap-up session to address outstanding issues on
the budget and to discuss the draft decision for
approving the budget, which was circulated during
the meeting. At the outset, the Indian, Iranian,
Chinese and -- for the first time -- Pakistani
delegates stated their inability to agree to the

budget given their objections to the increase in
inspections for other chemical production
facilities (OCPFs). The Iranian delegate also
insisted on adding language to the draft decision
from last year's budget decision regarding the
policy nature of industry inspection numbers and
the need for such policy discussion to take place
in the Industry Cluster. The British and French
delegates responded that insertion of any such
language would depend on the number of industry
inspections finally agreed.


14. (U) The Chinese delegate proposed adding a
reference to abandoned chemical weapons (ACW) in
Core Objective 1 of the OPCW, which currently only
mentions the elimination of chemical weapons (CW)
stockpiles and CW production facilities (CWPFs).
The Dutch delegate proposed putting the reference
either in the indicators of achievement or the key
outcomes for 2010 for Core Objective 1 rather than
redrafting the objective itself. Aguilar suggested
that the Chinese and Japanese delegations confer
bilaterally to find agreeable language.


15. (U) South African Delegate van Schalkwyk then
started a discussion on whether to approve the
budget on a programmatic level, as has been done
since the 2005 budget, or on the sub-programmatic
level considering the re-introduction of sub-
programs in the 2010 budget. Budget Planning Head
Sahab responded that the sub-programs were
introduced as a transparency measure but on a trial
basis in order to give the TS experience and data
to use when setting levels for 2011. Van Schalkwyk
said if sub-programs are included in the budget,
Financial Regulation 4.6 regarding transfers of
funds between sub-programs has to be observed;
Sahab countered that the regulation would not apply
if the budget were adopted at the program level and
that the TS wanted to maintain some flexibility
during the trial year to assess the accuracy of its
estimations for sub-program budget levels. The DDG
added that the TS does not expect to transfer more
than 15% between sub-programs (the level set in
Regulation 4.6). He also noted that the ABAF had
endorsed the TS's proposal to adopt the budget at
the program level; van Schalkwyk -- the ABAF vice-
chairperson -- said that he agreed with the ABAF
endorsement in his personal capacity but that South
Africa's national position is to insist that all
financial regulations and rules are complied with
fully. German Ambassador Burkart asked for an
opinion on the matter from the Legal Advisor, which
the DDG promised to have for the next consultation
on October 1.


16. (U) Turning to the Verification Division's
KPIs, van Schalkwyk reiterated his request for more
detail in the KPI related to Article IV/V (CW
destruction) activity. The Iranian delegate asked
that the term "chemical-warfare agents" in the KPI
be changed to "chemical weapons"; Verification
Director Reeps agreed that this would be an
accurate modification. On the 2010-2012 Medium-
Term Plan, the Russian delegate stated that he did
not like the term "steady-state situation" related
to TS plans for continued verification of converted
Qto TS plans for continued verification of converted
CWPFs, and the DDG agreed to consider alternative
wording in consultation with the Russian and UK
delegations.

BUDGET WRAP-UP SESSION 2
--------------


17. (U) Strub chaired the second wrap-up session on
October 1. Updated drafts of the budget decision
and revisions to the budget, as well as the

revision to the Medium-Term Plan were circulated.
The DDG noted the changes to the Verification
Division KPIs to add the detail to Article IV/V
activities previously requested by van Schalkwyk.


18. (U) The DDG then raised the issue of sub-
programs, stating that Financial Regulation 4.6
would apply in 2010 if the budget were adopted at
the sub-program level. However, he stressed, the
TS would prefer the sub-programs in the budget be
used illustratively and not concretely until
formally introducing them in the 2011 budget.
Legal Advisor Onate then gave a thorough legal
opinion on the applicability of the financial rules
and regulations, concluding that the TS is required
by Financial Regulation 3.3 to divide the budget
into two chapters and the two chapters into
programs; however, the division of programs into
sub-programs is not mandatory but rather applicable
only when considered appropriate. Onate stated
that, if the budget were to be adopted at the
program level, Financial Regulation 4.5 (on the
transfer of funds between programs) would apply but
Financial Regulation 4.6 would not as the budget
formally would not have sub-programs and therefore
would be outside of the scope of Regulation 4.6.
After Onate's report, van Schalkwyk stated that
South Africa's firm position is that Financial
Regulation 4.6 should be enforced, and he insisted
that the budget be approved at the sub-program
level to ensure the Regulation's applicability.

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ARTICLE VII
--------------


19. (U) New facilitator Rami Adwan (Lebanon)
convened his first consultation on Article VII
implementation on September 25. Legal Advisor
Santiago Onate gave a detailed overview of the
annual report, which will be considered at EC-58.
Onate drew particular attention to the suggestions
in the report's introductory cover note (paragraphs
11-16) as possible elements to be used in a
decision on Article VII. Onate announced that
since the cut-off date for the report (August 19),
Barbados and Comoros each have established national
authorities. He also confirmed that the TS
responds within 10-15 business days to requests
from States Parties for comments on their Article
VII submissions.


20. (U) France, Sweden (in its EU Presidency
capacity) and Germany all noted the assistance they
provide to member states, particularly in Africa,
in meeting their Article VII obligations. WEOG
delegations (France, Italy, the Netherlands and
Germany) noted their general satisfaction with the
overall positive trend in this area but stated that
there is still more progress to be achieved.
Russian Delegate Konstantin Gavrilov contended that
progress is too slow and offered that it was time
for delegations to start considering the option of
"punitive" measures and for the TS to "name and
shame" countries into meeting their obligations.


21. (SBU) The South African delegate encouraged the
TS to sustain momentum in engaging State Parties on
Article VII, highlighting the value of reaching out
to parliamentarians. The delegate also stated his
persistent view that the TS should not include the
Qpersistent view that the TS should not include the
annual declarations of past activities (ADPAs) as a
measure of compliance with Article VII as not all
member states have declarable activities. German
Ambassador Burkart responded that countries without
declarable activities can still submit "nil"
declarations. Adwan recognized that the issue also

had been raised last year and promised to work with
interested delegations and the TS in finding an
agreeable solution.


22. (U) On October 2, Adwan held a follow-on
consultation to discuss what recommendations,
including the possibility of a decision, the EC
should make to the CSP when forwarding the report.
The Iranian delegate stated that Tehran has not
sent instructions yet; while he did not see any
problem with noting the factual parts of the annual
report, he said that the TS "recommendations" in
the introductory cover note are "subjective" and
need further discussion. Delrep pointed out that
the cover note only contained suggestions or
options for consideration and not TS
recommendations. Delrep and other delegates (from
Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland) noted that
the suggestions provide useful elements for
recommendations for future action. The Russian
delegate described the report as purely technical
and ready for noting; however, he said that any
draft decision would need further discussion,
suggesting the addition of new measures to build on
last year's decision. The Czech delegate stated
that a draft decision would help maintain momentum
on Article VII implementation, and the Brazilian
delegate said that any draft decision should offer
innovative ideas rather than merely repeating past
decisions.


23. (U) The South African delegate again raised his
objection to the inclusion of ADPA data in the
report and said that any report language or
decision will need to take this into account and
give clear guidance to the TS on what to include in
future reports. Adwan scheduled the next
consultation for October 8.

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ARTICLE X
--------------


24. (U) On September 25, Facilitator Maciej
Karasinski (Poland) held informal consultations on
assistance and protection against chemical weapons
under Article X. He opened the meeting by
soliciting feedback from States Parties on the
utility of the Protection and Assistance Databank.
The Technical Secretariat provided a brief
presentation on the databank. The Russian Delegate
provided a positive assessment on the considerable
progress made. The Italian Delegate provided
generally positive feedback, but stated that he
intended to follow up with his capital for more
substantive comments. The Czech Delegate provided
specific feedback on incorrect data that was
included related to participation in conferences
and suggested adding subcategories in the section
on experts. The French Delegate opined that
further reflection may be required on the
disclosure of information of national experts as
this information may be sensitive, and that she
would follow up with her capital for instructions.


25. (SBU) Karasinski circulated the nomination
request for qualified experts (S/775/2009). The TS
provided a short presentation on the role of
qualified experts, explaining that they are
intended to augment the OPCW team when specific
expertise is needed. The core group of qualified
experts comprises eighteen individuals from three
distinct disciplines: medical, CW explosive
ordinance disposal (EOD),and disaster management.
Qordinance disposal (EOD),and disaster management.
These experts are retained on a contract basis; the
special service agreements for the current group of
experts expire in February 2010. The deadline for

nominations is October 30, and experts will be
selected in November. Training for selected
experts will occur in February 2010 with the goal
of operational preparedness by March 1, 2010.
Seven nominations have been received thus far.
Following questions from the floor, the Technical
Secretariat stated that there has been no previous
specific request made for these qualified experts
to support the OPCW as intended, however several
have been used as instructors or speakers at
regional events. To the French Delegate's inquiry
about the breakdown of military and civilian
representation, the TS stated that ten of the
experts are military and eight civilian. On the
experts' obligations to protect information, the TS
stated that there is a secrecy agreement as part of
the experts' contract that forbids the sharing of
information and in that sense there is a legal
guarantee similar to that found in employment
contracts with the OPCW.


26. (SBU) Karasinski distributed a chart depicting
the current status on the submission of
declarations of national protection program, as
required by Article X, Paragraph 4. Karasinski
reminded States Parties of their obligations to
provide this information and reported that more
than 100 members have not yet reported. Several
delegates (Italy, Germany, the U.S., Yemen, and the
UK) encouraged improved procedures by the TS,
specifically including better coordination among
divisions of the TS that may be engaging States
Parties to better communicate the outstanding
requirements and foster compliance, and
particularly calling for a snapshot or
comprehensive list of all treaty requirements and
current status arranged by country.

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


27. (U) Facilitator Chen Kai (China) held his first
consultation on September 28. The tone of the
brief meeting was positive and upbeat. Chen stated
that the workshop proposed in 2008 still appears to
have general support although a number of details
remain outstanding. He believes the workshop
should be a forum for all relevant stakeholders,
including participants from government, industry,
academia and civil society, to brainstorm ideas on
how to promote the full implementation of Article
XI. Any results or recommendations from the
workshop could then feed into the ongoing
consultative process at the OPCW. Chen proposed
drafting a simple decision for CSP-14 to give a
green light to holding the workshop in 2010,
leaving details to be worked out later though
consultations.


28. (U) The Iranian delegate stated the importance
of the full implementation of Article XI but
reserved comments on the workshop for the next
consultation. Other delegates (from South Africa,
Italy, Poland and the U.S.) intervened to offer
their general support for the concept of the
workshop. The Cuban delegate was the only one to
support preparing a decision for CSP-14 and said
that it should promote the full implementation of
Article XI and not just endorse the workshop. Chen
concluded the consultation by promising to consult
with interested delegations and to discuss draft
Qwith interested delegations and to discuss draft
decision language at another consultation prior to
EC-58.


29. (U) BEIK SENDS.

LEVIN