US embassy cable - 05WELLINGTON310

C O N F I D E N T I A L WELLINGTON 000310 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EAP/ANP - THOMAS RAMSEY 
NP, T, L, EUR, EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2015 
TAGS: KNNP, MNUC, PARM, PREL, PHSA, EWWT, PGOV, NZ 
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR SUPPORT FOR 
U.S. NONPROLIFERATION AMENDMENTS TO THE SUA CONVENTION 
 
REF: A. STATE 66179 
     B. WELLINGTON 293 
 
Classified By: Pol-Econ Counselor Katherine B. Hadda 
 for reasons 1.4 B and D 
 
1.  (C) Pol-Econ Counselor on April 13 passed talking points 
(Ref A) to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Legal 
Division's Deputy Director Caroline Bilkey and new Legal 
Advisor Gerard Van Bohemen.  Van Bohemen will formally start 
his position in June and will lead the New Zealand delegation 
to next week's SUA talks. 
 
2.  (C)  On April 14, Van Bohemen reported they had read the 
demarche and appreciated our attention to their position (ref 
B).  They continue to support the Canadian text because they 
think it enables signatories to maintain their own 
Non-proliferation Treaty policies.  They are also not 
convinced that the Canadian text is less ambiguous than the 
alternate, France/UK/U.S. version.  That being said, Van 
Bohemen added he did not think there was a large gap between 
the two texts, and he looked forward to working with us to 
narrow our differences.  He also reiterated that New Zealand 
remained opposed to reopening other portions of the text, and 
he hoped for a productive session next week.  Van Boheman 
leaves for London on April 15. 
 
 
Burnett