US embassy cable - 05VIENNA1438

UNCLAS VIENNA 001438 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO, PREL, PTER, AU, WHO 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE: INTERNATIONAL HEALTH 
REGULATIONS DEMARCHE 
 
REF: STATE 73041 
 
1.  (U) On April 25, we conveyed reftel talking points to 
appropriate offices in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs.  DAO will present talking points to the 
Ministry of Defense at earliest opportunity. 
 
2.  (SBU) On May 2, EconPol Unit Chief followed up with 
Hubert Hrabcik, Section Chief in the MoH's Public Health 
Division.  Hrabcik said Austria would follow the EU consensus 
regarding revisions to the International Health Regulations 
(IHRs).  Hrabcik noted that, in principle, the GoA was not 
opposed to the USG positions on intentional and accidental 
releases; chemical, biological, and radionuclear events; and 
a federal-state clause for the IHR.  Concerning the other 
reftel points -- flexibility for an armed forces provisions 
and a high threshold for rejecting reservations -- Hrabcik 
admitted that the EU was still discussing these points 
internally.  Hrabcik opined that the EU views on all these 
issues were relatively flexible, and that the main opposition 
to the USG positions would come from non-European regions and 
countries, particularly China and Iran. 
Brown