US embassy cable - 05CANBERRA691

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000691 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NP/CBM, EAP/ANP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2015 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, MNUC, ETTC, AS, MTCRE 
SUBJECT: MTCR: AUSTRALIA WILLING TO SPONSOR TWO SMALL GROUP 
PROPOSALS 
 
REF: A. STATE 68722 
     B. CANBERRA 361 
 
Classified By: POLCOUNS WOO LEE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B AND D). 
 
1.  (C) We presented ref A points on April 15 to Department 
of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Counterproliferation 
Section Director Peter Sawczak and MTCR Action Officer 
Lucinda Bell, asking whether Australia would be willing to 
sponsor two of the five Small Group proposals that had 
emerged from the April 4 Small Group meeting on the margins 
of the Missile Technology Control Regime's (MTCR) Reinforced 
Points of Contact (RPOC) meeting in Paris.  Sawczak said the 
GOA would be willing to sponsor Proposals 2 and 5, on 
scrutinizing license applications to key transshipment 
points, and on transshipment "best practices."  These efforts 
would harmonize with similar Australian efforts in the 
Australia Group context, Sawczak noted.  He saw South Africa 
as the most problematic country for Proposal 2, given its 
unwillingness to "name names" of states of proliferation 
concern.  On Proposal 5, he said DFAT had not yet decided 
whether to suggest "ways forward" or to provide a draft list 
of "best practices" on controlling the transit, transshipment 
and brokering of missile-related items. 
 
STANTON