US embassy cable - 03THEHAGUE2977

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 002977 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AC/CB, NP/CBM, VC/CCB, L/ACV, IO/S 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP 
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC 
COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN) 
NSC FOR CHUPA 
WINPAC FOR LIEPMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, CWC 
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): IMPLEMENTATION 
OF UNIVERSALITY ACTION PLAN 
 
This is CWC-128-03. 
 
1. (U) OPCW Director General Pfirter, in a note dated 
November 21, designated External Relations (ERD) Director 
Huang Yu as the Technical Secretariat (TS) Point of Contact 
(POC) for implementing the action plan on universality.  On 
November 26, Huang chaired the first meeting with delegations 
on implementing the action plan.  DG Pfirter, DDG Hawtin, and 
other ERD officials attended the meeting, along with 
representatives of 25 delegations. 
 
2. (U) Pfirter opened the meeting by reiterating his 
commitment and that of the TS to fully implement the action 
plan.  The plan, he noted, had been requested by the Review 
Conference, completed ahead of schedule, and endorsed by the 
Special Meeting of the Executive Committee on the margins of 
the Eighth Conference of the States Parties.  He read from 
portions of the action plan to summarize the responsibilities 
of the TS and of States Parties, and pledged that the TS 
would fulfill its obligations.  A draft plan of 
universality-related activities had already been prepared for 
2004, he said, and the other universality-related document 
mandated by the action plan, outlining details about States 
Not Party (SNP), was in preparation.  He called on States 
Parties to identify voluntary regional and sub-regional POCs, 
as called for by the action plan, and to suggest initiatives 
for multilateral and bilateral universality activities. 
 
3. (U) Huang took the chair to distribute the draft program 
of activities (faxed to AC/CB).  He stressed that this was 
the first step in a consultative process with POCs and other 
interested States Parties on next year's program.  The TS, 
for its part, was eager to keep up the momentum.  To that 
end, he announced that notes of invitation would be 
transmitted in the coming days to all States Parties to 
nominate POCs for their regions. 
 
4. (U) Ambassador Javits congratulated Huang on his 
appointment and expressed hope that States Parties would 
respond positively to his invitation to serve as Regional or 
Sub-Regional POCs.  While there may be more than one POC for 
each region, he emphasized, each region should have at least 
one.  The Ambassador urged the TS to convene a coordination 
meeting with regional POC's and any other interested States 
Parties before the end of this year, perhaps on the margins 
of next week's EC session.  He praised the transparency and 
comprehensiveness of the draft program of activities, and 
said that U.S. representatives looked forward to 
give-and-take with the TS and other delegates in coming up 
with a useful and effective program.  The Ambassador urged 
States Party delegations in attendance to study the proposed 
schedule of activities and look for ways they could assist in 
promoting outreach to SNPs. 
 
5. (U) Several delegates announced ongoing and planned 
universality-related activities.  Italy said that the EU 
would soon launch an initiative to demarche all SNPs to 
accede to the Convention.  Japan announced that it had 
already been contacting non-member states bilaterally, and 
looked forward to the TS document on SNPs to help that 
process.  China also stated that it had been engaged 
bilaterally with certain regional SNPs, including those whose 
non-accession was cause for particular concern.  Australia 
said that these activities appeared to be fully in tune with 
the purposes of the Convention, but that they also pointed to 
the need to coordinate such activities.  Much of the 
discussion that followed drew on the proposed program of 
activities, with South Africa expressing concern that they 
not draw down International Cooperation and Assistance funds 
and that they not be forced on uninterested states.  Huang 
responded that the 2004 budget included 75,000 Euros 
specifically for universality-related activities, and that 
other activities overlapped with the objectives of ICA.  The 
DG said that his own bilateral contacts were sometimes at his 
own initiative, or represented follow-ups to earlier 
contacts, and did not come expressly at the invitation of the 
contacted state. 
 
6. (U) The UK and ROK both endorsed the U.S. call for a 
meeting of POCs before the end of the year.  Spain and Italy 
objected that the following week's EC would be too early, as 
few states, not to mention individual representatives, would 
have been identified yet as POCs.  USDel responded that an 
early meeting, including the representatives of any 
interested States Parties, would help in identifying POCs and 
addressing other questions to allow concrete actions to get 
underway early in the new year.  Huang said the TS would 
schedule a meeting "as soon as feasible." 
 
7. (U) In sidebar conversations following the meeting, USDel 
re-iterated the points made earlier to TS and WEOG 
counterparts, emphasizing that while it was up to the State 
Parties, the Regional Groups, and the TS how to organize the 
POCs, initially at least they should be based at The Hague to 
allow close coordination with the TS.  This did not preclude 
nominating POCs in capitals.  The point was to facilitate 
communication and coordination of activities. 
 
8.  (U)  Javits sends. 
SOBEL