VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTC #1615/01 2431417
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 311417Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0170
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 001615 
 
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 LEDDY 
WINPAC FOR WALTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP-UP FOR TWO 
WEEKS ENDING AUGUST 31 
 
This is CWC-73-07. 
 
----------------------------------- 
2008 BUDGET CONSULTATIONS ) ROUND 1 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  (U) On August 29, Diana Gosens (Netherlands) chaired the 
first consultation on the DG,s Draft Program and Budget for 
¶2008.  She was careful to point out that this meeting was 
only to cover Programme 1 (Verification), thus avoiding 
premature (and expected to be contentious) discussions on 
numbers and allocation of inspections.  Per Runn (acting 
Director, Verification while Horst Reeps was traveling in the 
U.S.) gave a brief summary of this Programme, noting that 
staffing numbers remain static and that there are no plans 
for the use of outside consultants. 
 
¶2.  (U) Japan and Canada asked some basic questions on the 
assumptions behind the consultancy and overtime planning. 
Japan then asked about the discussion in para 5.52 (the 
possible restructuring of the Equipment Store under the 
Inspectorate rather than Verification) and whether this could 
be done under the DG,s initiative or whether it required EC 
approval.  Ron Nelson (Director, Administration) pointed out 
that the structure of the TS is now 10 years old and several 
areas were being looked at for possible restructuring.  He 
also noted that these possible restructurings would only 
require EC approval in the case that a given position was 
reclassified. 
 
¶3.  (U) Belgium, Canada, and India commented on electronic 
declarations ) progress to date, whether this would be done 
for Article VI only, and ties to VIS.  Per Runn noted that 
nine (9) States Parties (SPs) submitted e-declarations this 
year and that the 2008 goal of 70 percent, while ambitious, 
is achievable.  He also said that they expected to have all 
of the e-declaration tools out to SPs by the end of this year. 
 
¶4.  (U) France asked when SPs should expect to see a report 
on the results-based budgeting (RBB) report for 2006.  The TS 
stated that this report is basically done now and expects to 
release it to SPs within a month.  Canada emphasized the 
importance of training within the budget.  India asked about 
the TS,s forthcoming paper on the VIS and whether it would 
discuss security provisions.  Per Runn stated that this paper 
would be coming out soon, but pointed out that the security 
provisions are reviewed by a separate audit team 
 
¶5.  (U) Germany asked about para 4.12 (biomedical sampling 
and analysis) and the TS,s plans to deal with this.  Per 
Runn stated that the TS is not looking for in-house 
capability in this area but will likely depend on a structure 
similar to the Designated Laboratories system for chemical 
sampling and analysis. 
 
----------------- 
EC VISIT PLANNING 
----------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Del rep continues to work with Technical Secretariat 
(TS) officials and delegations to complete the administrative 
and logistical planning necessary for the EC visit to the 
Anniston Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility in October. 
Del has alerted the U.S. consulate in Amsterdam to the 
potential visa applications, and has provided the list of 
participants from the EC and TS to Washington.  The TS has 
agreed to assist in domestic travel reservations, and has 
expressed an interest in providing a technical, 
verification-focused briefing on Anniston prior to the 
delegation,s departure from The Hague.  Del has received 
several questions about the level of representation and 
expertise the visitors can expect to encounter, with an 
additional emphasis from the French delegation on the 
political element of the visit.  Del recommends Washington 
carefully consider its interagency representation in order to 
clearly demonstrate the U.S. political commitment to chemical 
weapons destruction, a topic that will likely figure 
prominently in post-visit reporting in The Hague.  The 
appropriate representation may be critical in discouraging 
 
continued interest in including Washington in the visit 
program, an element del was expressly instructed to exclude 
from the visit decision last year. 
 
 
--------------- 
IRAQI ACCESSION 
--------------- 
 
¶7. (U) After some initial confusion, del has confirmed with 
Director of Verification Horst Reeps that the TS does not 
intend to move forward with a September 15-20 workshop in 
Amman to finalize the Iraqi initial declaration.  Del has 
recommended postponing the workshop, particularly given the 
uncertainty surrounding the availability of Iraqi experts. 
Following the August 16 meeting with Reeps, del has learned 
in subsequent discussions that the UK is concerned by their 
perception that the TS is &rushing8 completion of the 
initial declaration, and that the TS seems inclined to rely 
heavily on the UK and U.S. to provide information the Iraqis 
may be missing.  Reeps, request for video footage, photos or 
satellite imagery of damaged or destroyed former chemical 
weapons facilities in Iraq has also caused some concern in 
London; del understands that the UK does not currently plan 
to provide assistance in this area. 
 
----------------------------- 
INDUSTRY AND PROTECTION FORUM 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Del rep met on August 17 with Krzysztof Paturej (TS, 
Director, Office of Special Projects), at his request.  The 
topic was the upcoming Industry and Protection Forum (IPF), a 
part of the 10th Anniversary activities.  The ideas he 
presented were not new but have been raised earlier with 
senior management within ISN/CB and BIS.  Paturej,s hope is 
that careful planning of the IPF will create a platform for 
supporting effective national implementation by engaging all 
key stakeholders, including industry, trade and import/export 
control experts, and security experts.  He fairly pointed out 
that the TS,s continual efforts to raise awareness with 
National Authorities do not always result in subsequent 
awareness within industry and other stakeholders.  He hoped 
that perhaps active sharing of lessons learned between the 
industries of various States Parties could result in more 
awareness of the CWC and allow the sharing of methodologies, 
lessons learned, etc.  Paturej finally alluded to the fact 
that his staff is minimal (i.e., he and one other 
administrative person), and that he hoped some delegations 
could provide logistical and (where possible) financial 
support of these ongoing efforts.  He will keep the Del on 
the e-mail list for IPF planning. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
DUTCH MFA REQUEST FOR SEPTEMBER DONOR COORDINATION MEETING 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Del rep received an inquiry from the Dutch MFA as to 
whether or not the U.S. intends to provide a more substantive 
briefing on the U.S. program to assist in Russia,s 
destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile.  Delegation 
understands that DOD intends to present an overview of U.S. 
Cooperative Threat Reduction assistance efforts at the 
September 24 informal meeting of States Parties assisting 
Russia with chemical weapons destruction.  Delegation will 
await confirmation from Washington before providing a 
positive response to the Dutch MFA. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
INFORMAL MEETING WITH ARTICLE X FACILITATOR 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶10. (U) Del reps met with Article X Facilitator Jitka Brodska 
(Czech Republic) on August 21 to discuss upcoming meetings. 
Brodska is planning for the next consultative meeting to take 
place during the week of October 8.  In this meeting the 
focus will be on Paragraph 7, the Protection Network and the 
Qualified Experts List. 
 
¶11. (U) In regard to Paragraph 7, Brodska reported that 
voluntary contributions have increased.  This has generated 
some discussion among a variety of delegations about an 
excessive use of voluntary contributions for Article X 
instead of line items in the OPCW budget. 
 
¶12. (U) Brodska noted that regular meetings on the Protection 
Network need to be re-established.  She feels that there 
still needs to be discussion and agreement on how the 
Protection Network will work.  She believes that the TS needs 
more experts and a clearer idea of its intention in regard to 
the Protection Network. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
VERIFICATION IMPLEMENTATION REPORT (VIR) 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (U) Del reps met with Head of Policy Review Branch Per 
Runn to discuss the TS Corrigendum to the 2006 VIR.  Runn, 
who lost most of his experienced staff over the summer, has 
agreed to look into the issues raised in the U.S. written 
comments that were not addressed in the corrigendum.  As in 
past years, Runn does anticipate providing a specific written 
response to the U.S. comments, and agreed that a second 
corrigendum will be necessary; due to his personnel 
situation, timing on availability of these documents is 
unclear.  In accordance with STATE 081267, del reps also 
initiated follow-up on several additional issues not covered 
in the U.S. written comments; initial response has been 
forwarded via classified email to Washington. 
 
¶14. BEIK SENDS. 
Gallagher