VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTC #2490/01 3251642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211642Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7490
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 002490 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCB, L/ACV, IO/S 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP 
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC 
COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN) 
NSC FOR DICASAGRANDE 
WINPAC FOR WALTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP-UP FOR THE 
WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 17 
 
This is CWC-106-06. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
WORKING GROUP FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE SECOND REV CON 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶1. (U) Ambassador Parker (UK) chaired a meeting of the RevCon 
Working Group (WG) on November 13.  The agenda for the 
meeting was: (1) Involvement of external bodies in the review 
process (continued from earlier meetings); (2) The role of 
the CWC in enhancing international peace and security 
(initial discussion on this topic).  Three support documents 
were also distributed: (1) "Modalities of the Participation 
of External Bodies in the Review Process", a chairman's 
proposal; (2) a background paper by the Technical Secretariat 
entitled "Note on the Involvement of External Bodies in the 
First Review Conference", dated September 22; and (3) a 
background paper by the TS entitled "Developments Related to 
Issues that were Considered at the First Special Session of 
the Conference of the States Parties to Review the Operation 
of the Chemical Weapons Convention", dated September 22. 
 
¶2. (U) The chairman presented an overview of his paper on the 
modalities of the participation of external bodies.  Many 
delegations intervened with questions and ideas about the 
relationship between external bodies' written submissions and 
their participation in the RevCon, deadlines for written 
submissions and the vetting process for what is published on 
the OPCW external server, the contents of the proposed 
chairman's open letter to interested bodies outside the OPCW, 
status of documents that are published on the OPCW external 
server, anticipated 2007 meetings with industry and other 
external bodies and their timing, role of the Bureau in 
dealing with disagreements or particularly sensitive issues, 
criteria for accepting or excluding written submissions, and 
the balance between the value of meetings for external bodies 
versus the value to States Parties.  The chairman committed 
to editing his proposal to address the comments received, 
including the modalities for the 2007 NGO meeting to the 
first meeting of the WG in 2007, and including a discussion 
on the 2007 industry meeting in the December meeting of the 
WG. 
 
¶3. (U) The chairman opened the floor for general thoughts on 
the role of the CWC in enhancing international peace and 
security.  The U.S., Russia, Sudan, Spain, the Netherlands, 
Austria, China, the UK, Canada, Germany, Korea, Japan, Italy, 
Iran, South Africa, France, India, Mexico, and Australia all 
made interventions, many rather formal statements.  The 
common themes from WEOG SPs and Japan were: helping SPs meet 
their obligations, universality, progress in destruction 
since first RevCon, effective verification and 
confidence-building, UNSC 1540 and global counterterrorism, 
Article VII progress and continuing efforts, developments in 
science and technology, role of effective dialogue with 
industry, challenge inspections, and chemical trade.  Russia 
focused on meeting obligations for all, not just those who 
are possessors and in the process of destroying, as well as 
thinking about the possibility of non-SPs who might be 
possessors.  The other SPs all pointed to destruction within 
deadlines as their main focus 
, with assistance and protection, international cooperation 
for chemical advancement, universality, transfers to non-SPs, 
inclusivity and non-discriminatory practices as additional 
points. 
 
¶4. (U) The next meeting of the Working Group will be December 
11 at 10:30 am.  The agenda will include a continuation of 
discussion on the role of the CWC in enhancing international 
peace and security, as well as measures to ensure the 
universality of the CWC. 
 
------ 
BUDGET 
------ 
 
¶5. (U) Budget consultations were held on November 16.  The DG 
opened the meeting by saying that in compiling a presentation 
on Article VI inspection proposed for 2007, he has become 
 
even more convinced that the TS proposal was the right 
proposal.  He also noted that an additional 400 new OCPF 
facilities were declared between December 2005 and June 2006 
and this further reinforced the need for a significant 
increase in OCPF inspections. Bill Kane (IVB) then gave a 
presentation on Article VI inspections proposed for 2007 (the 
presentation sent to ISN/CB by fax and e-mail on 11/17). At 
the conclusion of Kane's presentation, the DG said that OCPFs 
were a "black hole" about which the TS has very little 
information. He said that if delegates tried to make the OCPF 
inspection issue a political one it would seriously erode 
confidence in the CWC regime and its effective contribution 
to nonproliferation. 
 
¶6. (U) In a subsequent phone call with Ambassador Javits, the 
DG made it clear that he has strong views on the subject and 
encouraged delegations to defend the TS proposal. He told the 
Ambassador that no country should have a veto over what 
should be a technical and not a political issue. The DG 
implied that he would rather see a delay in getting a budget 
than give in on an issue of principal. 
 
¶7. (U) The next budget consultation, designed to give 
delegations a chance to ask question about Kane's 
presentation, will be on November 22. 
 
¶8. (U) Javits sends. 
ARNALL