US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE587

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 THE HAGUE 000587 
 
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):  WEEKLY WRAP-UP 
FOR 5 MARCH 2004 
 
 
This is CWC-30-04. 
 
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RBB WORKSHOP 
------------ 
 
1.  (U)  Simply put, the RBB Workshop was a success.  There 
were no objections to implementing RBB in the 2005 budget 
document, and the objectives of the workshop were 
accomplished.  As summarized by the Mark Mathews (U.K.), the 
workshop demonstrated that 1) the OPCW has been living in 
"the middle ages" with regard to budget formulation, 2) the 
Technical Secretariat is pretty well prepared to implement 
the first budget based on an RBB format, and 3) RBB will 
allow for greater control by both the TS and States Parties. 
There clearly is much work ahead for both the TS and States 
Parties on the 2005 budget document, but all attendees gained 
a greater understanding of RBB and feel more comfortable with 
the concepts involved.  The area of greatest concern focused 
on the development and definition of objectives and 
performance indicators for the organization, and there will 
most likely be great debate over these issues during the 2005 
budget consultations. 
 
2.  (U)  There were presentations made by the 
Director-General, Dr. Cherif (IAEA), Mr. Smith (TS 
consultant), and several TS programme and branch Directors. 
There were three main objectives to the workshop: 1) provide 
a clear understanding of the RBB concept(s), 2) report on the 
current state of play within the TS in the process of 
developing an RBB for 2005, and 3) address the key concerns 
raised by States Parties. 
 
3.  (U)  The message was driven home that RBB allows for 
greater accountability and transparency for an organizations 
management and member States.  The RBB format is a tool used 
by management to assist with more efficient and effective use 
of resources.  One important aspect of RBB that was 
highlighted is the assessment and evaluation of the previous 
year's assumptions (objectives, performance indicators, 
targets, and the level of resources).  The lessons learned 
from this assessment are then used to develop the next year's 
budget document.  The OPCW is behind most similar 
organizations in its budget formulation.  Most UN and other 
IO's have moved to using an RBB format. 
 
4.  (U) The TS has been working for more than the last ten 
months with the consultant, Mr. Smith, to develop the 2005 
budget document in RBB format.  During March/April, the TS 
will be finalizing the draft of the 2005 budget.  The draft 
will be circulated to States Parties in May, allowing six 
months for review of the document before a decision is taken 
at the 9th Conference of States Parties (Nov. 29 - Dec. 3). 
Even though an RBB format will start in 2005, full 
implementation utilizing the assessment and evaluation 
methodology will not be reached for 3-6 years, and there will 
always be room for improvement from the lessons learned from 
that exercise. 
 
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BUDGET ISSUES - MEETING WITH DDG HAWTIN 
--------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (U)  Members of the delegations from the U.S., FRG, U.K., 
Japan, France and Italy asked to meet with Deputy DG Hawtin 
on March 4 to discuss a number of budget and administrative 
issues which had been raised last year with the DG and DDG 
and remain unresolved.  Hawtin began the discussion by 
ticking off the areas in which savings are anticipated in 
2004: 
 
-- On insurance, new TS policies will yield savings of some 
300,000 Euros. 
 
-- On training, there would be savings of some 400,000 Euros. 
 
-- Implementation of the on-call inspector arrangement also 
would generate savings.  Three possessor states have agreed 
to the proposal, and India has said it will not participate, 
but will not object, to the program.  Hawtin said the initial 
goal is to recruit ten on-call inspectors.  For 2004, which 
will be a trial year, some 150,000-200,000 Euros could be 
saved, with a possible 400,000 Euros next year. 
 
6.  (U)  Hawtin told the delegates that the plan is for a 
zero real growth budget for 2005.  As part of that exercise, 
managers had been asked what adjustments they would make with 
either an increase or reduction of two per cent in 2005.  On 
the question raised by the delegates of the level of industry 
inspections, Hawtin stated that the DG agrees that OCPF 
inspections are currently too how.  However, it is not clear 
if there is a consensus on what the "proper" figure should 
be.  Verification director Reeps said that there should be 
more than 150 Article VI inspections, but what is not clear 
is how those inspections should be distributed. 
 
7.  (U)  Hawtin then made the pitch to the delegates that 
while the TS appreciates the interest of member states in 
savings and efficiencies in key budget areas, another way to 
garner efficiencies is to give the DG more freedom to make 
decisions to pursue efficiencies.  Finally, the DDG noted 
that an effective way for this group of delegates to make 
their views known would be for it to meet with the External 
Auditors when they visit to the Hague to discuss the issue of 
"value for money" audits.  The group noted that there were 
still a number of issues that remain unresolved (travel, home 
leave, etc.) and the current plan is to meet again with DDG 
Hawtin on March 30. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
AMENDMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL REGULATIONS 
--------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (U) Facilitator Peter van Brakel (Canada) began with 
Regulation 12.1 and the discussion over this amendment lasted 
the entire consultation.  There will probably be another 
round of consultations scheduled for the week of March 15, 
but a decision soon is looking less likely.  Office of 
Internal Oversight director Louati attended the 
consultations, and Del asked him to describe the difference 
between the proposed definition of monitoring and the 
definition of audits of "effectiveness" under Regulation 
12.2.  Louati's response was that there is not much of a 
difference. 
 
9.  (U)  Louati stressed that the primary role of monitoring 
lies with managers and the implementation of RBB will assist 
them with this.  The OIO's role in monitoring will be: 1) to 
develop standard criteria (guidelines) for all managers to 
develop their own monitoring programs; and 2) to request 
progress reports on programme implementation, as defined for 
their program in the RBB, from the managers on a periodic 
basis.  The OIO will play the role of a check and balance to 
compare the progress reported by the managers and the results 
expressed in the budget and to ensure the accuracy of the 
information provided by managers. 
 
10.  (U) When asked if he would be open to other proposals 
for amendments, van Brakel responded affirmatively.  After 
the consultation, TDYer Lisa Benthien provided the 
facilitator with the minor editorial changes to 6.2 and 6.3. 
 Benthien mentioned some of the other regulations that the 
U.S. had in mind for amendments.  Van Brakel suggested that 
we provide a non-paper for distribution at the next 
consultation on exactly which ones the U.S. proposed to 
amend, with perhaps some background for the changes, or the 
rational for the proposals, included in the paper.  Benthien 
promised to work on getting that to the facilitator. 
 
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UNIVERSALITY 
------------ 
 
11.  (U) Del reps met with Huang Yu, Director of the External 
Relations Division (ERD), and Ioan Tudor, Chief of the 
Government Relations and Political Affairs Branch in ERD, to 
discuss TS activities and to pass them a paper on U.S. 
activities undertaken in support of the universality action 
plan.  Huang thanked Washington for its efforts and expressed 
his appreciation for the U.S. paper.  Huang reported that he 
called the March 8 universality meeting to distribute to 
delegations copies of three TS papers requested in the action 
plan.  One paper will report that there are nine States 
Parties who have nominated a POC. 
 
12.  (U) Huang stressed the importance of the upcoming 
universality meetings in Malta and Addis Ababa and asked the 
U.S. to send representatives (the more senior the better). 
He encouraged the U.S. to use any means available to persuade 
Arab States Not Party of greatest concern to attend the 
Middle East Regional Workshop in Malta (May 5-7), adding that 
he fears that Arab nations generally will not be willing to 
attend sessions with Israel.  Del reps suggested that perhaps 
the TS might consider running parallel sessions, thus 
permitting those unwilling to meet in a room with Israeli 
representatives to actively participate. 
 
13.  (U) Del reps also discussed the communications problem 
between the TS and capitals/missions of States Not Party. 
Huang is well aware of the issue and added examples of his 
own.  Another element contributing to poor communications is 
that the missions of non-States Party in Brussels (or The 
Hague or London) are generally small, and the officers 
responsible for OPCW-related matters cover a multitude of 
other topics.  The CWC frequently does not make the cut.  Del 
reps suggested that perhaps issuing information to 
representatives in capitals via e-mail might help.  Huang 
welcomed the idea, although he noted that even if the TS had 
e-mail addresses for representatives in capitals, the 
recipients were unlikely to be able to open large documents 
or those with large attachments.  Del reps suggested that 
e-mailing the contacts in capitals to alert them to upcoming 
meetings, seminars, and workshops and to advise them to ask 
their missions in Brussels or the U.K. for more details. 
 
14.  (U) Huang reported that the TS is planning bilateral 
visits to capitals of States Not Party in the African 
regional group and invited the U.S. send a representative on 
those trips.  Huang also asked if the U.S. might be able to 
sponsor some of the participants to the fall 2004 Caribbean 
regional workshop, and Del reps agreed to relay the request 
to Washington.  Finally, Huang requested that the U.S. 
consider how it might approach North Korea, and told Del reps 
that the TS is also requesting other States Parties to try to 
influence North Korea regarding CWC accession.  In 
particular, Huang would like to encourage North Korea to send 
representatives to the Asian regional workshop in Beijing to 
better educate Pyongyang about the CWC and the advantages of 
membership. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
TENURE IMPLEMENTATION - TRANSITION SUPPORT PAPER 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
15.  (SBU)  On March 3, Eva Murray, head of Human Resources, 
provided Del with a copy of a draft paper which proposes 
measures to assist OPCW staff as the tenure policy is 
implemented.  Murray provided the draft paper to a few 
delegations for comment and we have sent it electronically to 
AC/CB.  The list of proposals include establishment of focal 
points within the HR Branch to provide assistance to those 
selected for separation from the OPCW.  A transition support 
package would also be offered that would assist in finding 
new employment.  The final provision is providing staff an 
option for voluntary non-renewal at the expiration of their 
contracts. 
 
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EC EFFICIENCY 
------------- 
 
16.  (SBU) On March 5, EC Chairman Kubernat held his second 
meeting on proposals to make Executive Council sessions more 
efficient.  Once again, however, the discussion became bogged 
down, and was even more inefficient than the first session. 
The participants only managed to discuss the proposal on 
regular updating of the plan of activities prepared in 
cooperation with the TS, with a slight detour into some U.K. 
proposals in a "food for thought" paper.  Informally, 
however, the TS has indicated that it will proceed with a 
number of the Chairman's proposals which do not require any 
change in procedures necessitating approval from member 
states.  Some of these, such as early distribution of the 
annotated agenda and documents for consideration at upcoming 
ECs, have already been implemented. 
 
17.  (U)  Ito sends. 
 
 
 
SOBEL