US embassy cable - 03THEHAGUE3088

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 003088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
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): WRAP-UP FOR 
WEEK ENDING 12 DECEMBER 
 
 This is CWC-135-03. 
 
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IMPLEMENTING UNIVERSALITY 
------------------------- 
 
1.  (SBU) OPCW's External Relations Division (ERD) 
distributed the Director-General's Invitation to States 
Parties to Designate Points of Contact on Universality 
(S/388/2003, faxed to AC/CB) to all delegations on December 
11.  ERD's Keith Wilson told DelOff that the TS is looking at 
January 8 as the earliest possible target date for a meeting 
between TS Point of Contact Huang Yu and SP POCs.  Wilson 
does not anticipate that many POCs will be identified by that 
time, but expects a high level of interest from States 
Parties seeking to resolve lingering questions about the 
concept and functions of POCs.  He reported that that the TS 
paper summarizing the status of accession of States Not Party 
has been completed, but it may not be released until 
February, as there is disagreement over how much sensitive 
information to include.  Since the document is supposed to be 
a reference tool for helping member states plan 
universality-related activities, we urged that it be 
simplified if necessary for quick clearance and distribution 
to SPs so that they, in turn, can submit their proposals to 
the TS. 
 
2.  (SBU) Wilson welcomed USG readiness to step up 
universality activities with Latin American and Caribbean 
States Not Party.  Other countries' interest in serving as 
POCs, and for what regions or sub-regions, is still fluid. 
Wilson said that UK and Japanese representatives had 
discussed with him potential targets for their activities. 
The TS and EU are looking to the proposed regional workshop 
in Malta in May as a launch pad for expanded universality 
efforts in the Middle East.  In the Pacific, Australia is 
considering what more it can do, having so far contributed to 
one regional event per year, while New Zealand will take a 
back seat.  We suggested that the TS provide guidelines and 
examples of POC functions and activities to help resolve the 
lingering confusion voiced by a number of delegations. 
 
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LOOKING AHEAD WITH THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL 
--------------------------------------- 
 
3.  (U) Director-General Pfirter was invited to meet with 
Western delegations at the year's last WEOG session on 
December 9.  His broad presentation covered personnel issues, 
goals for the next Conference of States Parties, and other 
challenges for the OPCW.  He described in detail measures 
taken to implement the tenure policy and procedures for 
making new appointments.  He identified the top TS priorities 
for 2004 as improving efficiency in order to implement the 
increased, but still tight, budget approved by CSP-8; and 
implementing the action plans for universality and national 
implementation.  To improve efficiency and lighten the burden 
on the TS, he suggested reducing the number of ECs from four 
to three per year, leading up to a CSP in December.  DDG 
Hawtin also addressed some of those issues. 
 
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INSURING NON-SERVICE INCURRED DEATH AND DISABILITY 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
4.  (U) Following inconclusive discussion at EC-35 of the TS 
paper on non-service incurred death and disability insurance 
(EC-35/S/4), which raised the prospect of a 12% reduction in 
premium payments but did not offer options for member states 
to consider, DG Pfirter discussed the issue further with WEOG 
delegations on December 9.  Asked whether newly-employed OPCW 
staff would continue to be provided with this coverage, 
Pfirter said yes -- for the time being.  He explained that 
since important legal and policy questions had not been 
resolved since they were raised at EC-34, and new contracts 
had to be signed by December 31, he had decided to continue 
to provide this coverage for new-hires, while obtaining 
better terms from the insurance providers.  Besides the 12% 
reduction that had been negotiated, Pfirter reported that 
payouts would be reduced from five times annual salary (which 
had been arranged by his predecessor) to the UN standard 
three times annual salary up to 350,000 euros maximum. 
 
5.  (U) WEOG delegates were not fully satisfied with this 
approach.  Germany questioned the legal basis for providing 
coverage not mandated under staff regulations.  Canada and 
Italy asked why alternative insurance schemes had not been 
explored before new staff was hired, and repeated complaints 
they had voiced at the EC.  Pfirter said that he understood 
SP's desire to resolve the issue, but that it had not been 
possible to address the many questions involved in the time 
since EC-34.  To make the process as transparent as possible, 
the DG said he would provide delegations with the insurance 
consultants' report and would continue to seek legal advice 
on acquired rights and questions about possible future 
discrimination claims by new-hires who would obtain lower 
coverage. 
 
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VALIDATION GROUP MEETING 
------------------------ 
 
6.  (U)  U.S. technical experts (Mallard, White, Etz, from 
NIST and Alcaraz, Gregg, and Maxwell from Lawrence Livermore 
National Laboratories (LLNL)) attended the 17th OPCW 
Validation Group Meeting held in The Hague on December 9-10. 
The main action to which the group agreed was the removal of 
degradation products of riot control agents (determined not 
of relevant value) from the validated list, though the group 
agreed to retain degradation products of scheduled chemicals 
and the riot control agents.  The group also discussed the 
data validation group findings from several laboratories and 
accepted the following analytical data:  MS Spectra:  210, IR 
Spectra:  49; GC(RI) values:  260; and NMR Spectra:  45. 
Differences in GC(RI) values measured by laboratory #7 
(Swiss) and other labs were also discussed.  Although 
attendees believe the differences are due to various GC 
column phase batches, the group decided to evaluate the issue 
further.  Labs from the UK (DSTL), Finland (VERIFIN), and USA 
(LLNL) agreed to measure a select number of compounds to 
resolve issue.  The next meeting of the OPCW Validation Group 
is scheduled for 29-30 March 2004. 
 
7.  (U)  Ito sends. 
 
 
SOBEL