OPEN SKIES FEB 22: U.S.-DRAFTED RULES/PROCEDURES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USOSCE 000060 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA JCS FOR J-5 OSD FOR ISA (KEHL, WALLENDER) NSC FOR FRIEDT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES FEB 22: U.S.-DRAFTED RULES/PROCEDURES APPROVED REF: STATE 015591 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The 22 February Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC) plenary approved the U.S.-drafted Decision on Rules of Procedure and Working Methods of the OSCC and its Informal Working Groups (OSCC.DD/3/10). The plenary was followed by a short Informal Working Group on Rules and Procedures where the German draft on Allocation of Observation Flight Reference Numbers (OSCC.RP/1/10) was approved for forwarding to the OSCC plenary for adoption. Last, the Informal Working Group on Planning the Review Conference met and discussed the draft agenda. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) The OSCC plenary, chaired by Canada (Gregory),went smoothly as planned and was "efficient" as the chair commented. The U.S.-drafted decision OSCC.DD/3/10 on Rules of Procedure and Working Methods of the OSCC and its Informal Working Groups was approved without comment. Regarding Informal Working Groups, the U.S. (Neighbour) read a report by the Chair of the Sensors (Simmons). Inter alia, he said all technical provisions of Rev. 1 to Decision 14 were agreed at the working group level and that the group was working on finding consensus on adoption procedures. Under any other business, the letter to EUROCONTROL on charges for terminal air services (OSCC.INF/7/10) met with no opposition, so will be forwarded by the Chair. The plenary ended with only 10 minutes elapsed. ¶3. (SBU) Next came the Informal Working Group on Rules and Procedures (IWGRP),Chaired by Russia (Kozlov). The only item of business was discussion of the German proposal on Allocation of Observation Flight Reference Numbers (OSCC.RP/1/10). The U.S. (Liston) supported the document, underlining that it was essential that all States Parties stick to the timeline as written in the document. He explained that States Parties should not begin using the two-digit FRNs until 2012 because some national systems, including the U.S. software, could not yet support two-digit FRNs. When queried off-line by the German rep (Ratzlaff), Liston commented, also off-line, that both German and Russian verification agencies had already used a two-digit format. Ratzlaff then stated to the group that sticking to the timeline was essential. After this FFT was approved to be forwarded to the plenary, the Russian chair placed the IWGRP in "standby", to await the next time it would be needed. ¶4. (SBU) Finally, the Informal Working Group on Planning the Review Conference (IWGPRC) commenced, chaired by the U.S. (Liston). The main item for discussion was the proposed agenda for the Review Conference. Liston stated that it was a draft, noting it was very similar to the agenda for the first RevCon and that any and all comments and additions would be considered. He also asked for any volunteers for presentations on agenda topics to please make themselves known. The Canadian rep (Linteau) wondered if the newly-activated Informal Working Group on Notifications and Formats would be included on the RevCon agenda. Liston replied that there could be a section covering all the lesser-used IWGs in addition to sections covering both the Sensor, and the Rules and Procedures Working Groups. The Czech Rep (Krska) commented that he had a paper that he would distribute electronically that had some ideas for the RevCon. ¶5. (SBU) Under AOB, the U.S. (Neighbour) provided advance copies to delegates of the non-paper on the RevCon that was being distributed to capitals (Ref A). After the meeting, the Slovak rep (Jankovic) commented to U.S. reps that it might be a good idea to have the OSCC provide information on the RevCon to the Kazakh CiO for the Interim Report on Corfu to the Permanent Council planned for early Summer. ¶6. (SBU) Meanwhile, the U.S. and Russia have continued to meet on a bilateral basis at an expert level to work out modalities for adoption of the agreed text to Rev 1 of Decision 14 (sensors). They are also working on Rev 2 to Decision 17 (storage) and a Digital Image Processing Decision (DIPD). As of mid-day on 23 February, good progress was USOSCE 00000060 002 OF 002 being made on all three. These bilats continue through 24 February. ¶7. (SBU) To top off a day full of Open Skies on 22 February, Open Skies Treaty co-depositaries Canada and Hungary co-hosted a well-attended reception in honor of the 20-year anniversary of Open Skies. Inter alia, the Canadian and Hungarian speakers all applauded the results of Open Skies, and called repeatedly to move forward, specifically in recruiting new members to the Treaty. ¶8. (U) The next OSCC plenary is set for Monday, 22 March, under Canada,s chairmanship. FULLER