VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0093 0441944
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131944Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0489
INFO RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0817

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000093 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN, ISN/CPI TWUCHTE, AND USUN MGORDON. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL AORC KPAO PTER UNSC CS
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: UNSCR 1540 PROGRAM OF WORK 
 
REF: STATE 10774 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: In response to reftel, Costa Rica's UNSC team 
told us that it had not studied the 1540 Program of Work at 
the MFA level since recently relinquishing the chairmanship 
of the 1540 Committee.  The MFA would review the U.S. draft 
edits with close attention to improving mechanisms for 
accurate and complete reporting.  The team's initial reaction 
was that "monitoring and implementation" was a more important 
role for the Committee over coordination of international 
assistance.  The GOCR would review the text with an eye 
toward ensuring that a strengthened 1540 Committee would 
focus on Costa Rican priorities -- such as weapons of mass 
destruction, applying oversight to countries in the process 
of developing weapons, and reporting gaps -- and would not 
duplicate work of other UN agencies or mechanisms.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) On February 10, we delivered reftel demarche to MFA 
Director of Foreign Policy Alejandro Solano, UNSC Team Leader 
Adriana Murillo, and Head of Disarmament, Terrorism and 
Organized Crime Carlos Cordero.  Solano told us that the MFA 
had not spoken to its New York Mission regarding the 1540 
Program of Work but would do so and would then respond to us. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The MFA's initial reaction, however, centered on the 
fact that the monitoring and implementation role was more 
important to Costa Rica than coordination of international 
assistance.  Solano noted, for example, that the British and 
French reports were very incomplete, not to mention problems 
with Pakistan's report and recent release of A.Q. Khan from 
house arrest.  We emphasized that the U.S. proposal would 
provide stronger mechanisms to work to "fill in gaps" in 
country reports. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The MFA officials told us that, additionally, the 
fight against non-proliferation must focus on countries that 
were in the process of developing capabilities; the Committee 
needed to concentrate on both "horizontal and vertical" 
proliferation.  Therefore, monitoring was most important 
because the greatest risks could come from countries that 
already had capabilities but were not admitting it.  The 
MFA's UNSC team also wanted to see how the Program of Work 
would address the ability of the Committee to monitor weapons 
of mass destruction, which they said was of particular 
concern to Costa Rica. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Our MFA interlocutors told us they would examine the 
Program of Work (including U.S. edits) with an eye toward 
ensuring that it would not duplicate or usurp the roles of 
other UN agencies or mechanisms.  In other words, Costa Rica 
would be looking at not only the background focus of the 
Committee, but the way in which it would complete its task in 
harmony with existing UN mechanisms.  (COMMENT: Improving 
this "harmony" remains an overall GOCR objective in the UN, 
and especially within the Security Council.  END COMMENT.) 
CIANCHETTE