P 281752Z NOV 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY

UNCLAS STATE 125943 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL MASS ETTC
 
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR WASSENAAR ARRANGEMENT PLENARY, DEC 
2-3 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Following is guidance for the U.S. 
Delegation (USDEL) for the Plenary meeting of the 
Wassenaar Arrangement (WA).  No issues achieved consensus 
at the General Working Group (GWG) meeting.  The GWG is 
recommending that the Plenary mandate continue work in 
2009 as well as Outreach to several non-Participating 
States.  The Experts Group (EG) has recommended 53 changes 
to the control lists.  End Summary. 
 
AGENDA ITEM 1 - Adoption of the Plenary Agenda 
 
¶2. (U) As written, the U.S. has no objection to the 
agenda. 
 
AGENDA ITEM 2 - Report from the GWG Chair 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The October GWG did not agree to forward any 
proposals to the Plenary for approval.  The GWG agreed on 
a proposed budget and a plan of action for outreach to 
non-Participating States to the Plenary.  For all other 
issues, the GWG agreed to recommend further discussion in 
¶2009. 
 
---------------------------- 
GENERAL INFORMATION EXCHANGE 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The following issues will be discussed under this 
agenda item: regional views; arms brokering activities; 
projects/programs of concern; transportation of arms; 
terrorism; transparency of Participating States' national 
export control practices; and emerging technologies of 
concern.  The GWG recommended continued discussion for 
each of these topics and encouraged increased 
contributions by Participating States. 
 
--USDEL should support the GWG recommendations and support 
the idea of continued focused discussion in Regional View 
sessions.  USDEL should note that regionally-focused 
papers enhance the effectiveness of the Arrangement by 
raising awareness, increasing transparency, and increasing 
discussion of sensitive issues. 
 
----------------------------- 
SPECIFIC INFORMATION EXCHANGE 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) This agenda topic will address: scope of 
notification of arms; scope of notification of dual-use 
goods; and the correspondence list.  The proposals under 
these headings include the following: 
 
--arms reporting and arms denial consultation; 
--expanding arms reporting to include transfers among 
Participating States; 
--dual-use denial consultation for Sensitive List and Very 
Sensitive List items; 
--reporting exports of ammunition; and 
--how to report transfers of artillery systems with a 
caliber of 35-75mm. 
 
--USDEL should not object to continued discussion of these 
items in 2009.  The U.S. is not in a position to support 
reporting small arms ammunition transfers, so USDEL should 
not overtly endorse continued discussion. 
 
------------------------------------ 
CONTROLS, LICENSING, AND ENFORCEMENT 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) This agenda topic will address the following 
issues: information sharing on new export control 
developments; Export Control Documentation; MANPADS; 
Internal Compliance Programs (ICPs); Guidelines for 
Transportation of Conventional Arms; Brokering; Re-Export 
Controls; Annual Review; and Licensing and Enforcement 
Officers Meeting (LEOM) related matters. 
 
¶7. (SBU) There are only two proposals under this agenda 
topic: ICPs and Re-Export Control.  Neither of these 
proposals have reached consensus.  The LEOM discussion 
will consist of approving the proposed agenda topics. 
Each of the other agenda items is a recommendation for 
continued review during the GWG of status of 
implementation of the previously adopted guidelines.  The 
GWG is recommending the Plenary mandate it to continue to 
discuss implementation during 2009. 
 
--USDEL should support continued discussion of the 
proposal for ICPs. 
 
--USDEL should support continued discussion of the Re- 
Export control proposal.  USDEL may support adoption of 
such an agreement if consensus has been achieved by the 
Plenary. 
 
--USDEL should support continued discussion of 
implementation during 2009. 
 
¶8. (SBU) LEOM-Related Matters: The GWG endorsed and 
recommended the following topics for discussion by the 
LEOM in 2009: Licensing Practices; Possibilities of 
customs action or intervention in foreign trade 
activities; end-use controls; criteria for license 
issuance; and challenges related to the prosecution of 
export control cases. 
 
--USDEL may support these recommendations. 
 
 
------------------ 
Report from the EG 
------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) The EG reached consensus on 53 items this year. 
It agreed to forward two of the proposals not agreed this 
year for further work in 2009.  These two proposals are a 
U.S. proposal on Coordinate Measuring Machines and a UK 
proposal on underwater diver detection systems.  The EG 
also agreed to recommend that the Plenary approve mandates 
for continued work in 2009 in the Technical Working Groups 
(TWGs) on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Low- 
light Level (LLL) and Infrared Sensors and Associated 
Cameras, and revision of Category 5 Part 2.  Italy plans 
to nominate Diego Martini for continuation as chair of the 
EG in 2010. 
 
-- USDEL should support the recommendation of the EG with 
respect to list review changes. 
 
-- USDEL should support the forwarding of US 002 and GB 
018 for further work in 2009. 
 
-- USDEL should support Plenary mandates for TWGs in 2009 
to work on GNSS, LLL and Cat 5 Part 2. 
 
-- USDEL should support the Italy's nomination of Diego 
Martini to continue to serve as EG Chair in 2010. 
 
 
---------------------- 
PARTICIPATION/OUTREACH 
---------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Participation: Cyprus is the only country whose 
application for membership still has not been decided. 
Turkey continues to block the application; the EU 
continues to express support for Cyprus' membership. 
 
--USDEL may support Cyprus' application for membership 
should the issue be put forward for a decision. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Outreach: The GWG proposed a number of outreach- 
related activities for 2009, including post-Plenary 
briefings.  The U.S. does not object to the proposed 
Outreach activities.  The U.S. has also developed a 
proposal for conducting an outreach seminar to brief non- 
Participating States on changes to the control lists. 
Consensus was not reached on this proposal; the U.S. 
should seek to have it discussed further in 2009. 
 
--USDEL should support the proposed Outreach activities 
for 2009. 
 
--USDEL should note that comments received indicated 
further work needed to be done on its proposal for a 
seminar to brief countries on changes to the control list. 
The U.S. will continue to work with Participating States 
in 2009 to further develop this proposal. 
 
-------------------- 
ADMINSTRATIVE ISSUES 
-------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) ELABORATION OF 2009 WORK PROGRAM - USDEL may 
support the 2009 Work Program. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) WASSENAAR ARRANGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM 
(WAIS): USDEL should support the updated WAIS Strategy and 
3-Year IT Action Plan, support implementation of the WAIS 
Technical Solutions for the 2007 Plenary decision on 
Revoking SL and VSL Denial Notifications, support renewing 
the Friends of the Chair Group on the WAIS (FOC-WAIS) 
mandate, and support the appointment of Christian Rupp, 
Austria, as the next FOC-WAIS Chair. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) RISK MANAGEMENT: USDEL may support the decision 
on risk management as contained in Attachment A to the 
Report from the Chairman of the General Working Group to 
the 2008 Plenary.  USDEL should clarify, either verbally 
or in a written revision, that Participating States have 
the final decision to send or decline to send, as 
appropriate, their experts on the contingency roster. 
 
¶15. (SBU) AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR 2007 - USDEL 
should support a Plenary decision to adopt the 
Arrangement's 2007 audited financial statements. 
 
¶16. (SBU) BUDGET FOR 2009 - USDEL may support the proposed 
budget. 
 
¶17. (SBU) CHAIRS FOR 2009 - USDEL may support the Plenary 
(Canada), GWG (The Netherlands), and LEOM (Switzerland) 
chairs, per the agreed alphabetical rotation.  (N.B. - the 
country rotation is automatic and the Rules of Procedure 
do not allow Participating States to block a country's 
nominee.) 
RICE 
 
 
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