CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS STATEMENTS FROM ROMANIA AS WELL AS THE INCOMING AND OUTGOING PRESIDENTS

The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard a statement by Romania on an Eastern-European meeting on the Chemical Weapons Convention. It was also addressed by the Ambassadors of Mongolia and Mexico who spoke as incoming and outgoing Presidents of the Conference respectively.

Ambassador Doru Costea of Romania said he was pleased to let the Conference know about the third meeting of the National Authorities of the Eastern-European States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) which was held in Bucharest from 17 to 19 May. Participants discussed the practical measures needed to fulfil the objectives of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Article VII Action Plan on enhancing the effectiveness of the CWC’s National Implementation Measures.

Ambassador Khasbazaryn Bekhbat of Mongolia, the incoming President of the Conference, said that thanks to the collective wisdom within the Conference, he believed that it would be able to stand up and face the challenges. Mongolia had already started its bilateral consultations and would continue them in the hope of reaching a consensus on the programme of work. He would also be convening formal plenaries, followed by informal plenaries. He called upon all delegations to use the time available before the summer recess with the greatest efficiency in order to find a way out of the current stalemate which had affected the Conference for the past eight years.

Ambassador Pablo Macedo of Mexico, the outgoing President of the Conference, said that he would present to the Conference his assessment of the discussions held within the informal plenaries with respect to the first two topics of the agenda on nuclear disarmament. He proposed to identify the main features in the debate which could guide the efforts of the Conference to adopt a programme of work, an objective which the Conference must not lose sight of.

Mr. Macedo said that he was convinced that the Five Ambassadors or A5 proposal continued to represent a formula which came closest to gaining a consensus on the programme of work. He hoped that the remaining issues could be smoothed out, adding that more needed to be known about some of these issues. Two proposals had been made during these meetings which could encourage activity in the Conference. The first was the possibility of the assessment of nuclear disarmament measures which had already taken place, and what further measures could be taken. To conduct this exercise, a high level of transparency would be needed. The second issue concerned the creation of a technical group to discuss the prohibition of fissile material. This approach would furnish valuable elements which showed what the prohibition of fissile materials entailed. These two practical proposals merited further study. In closing, Mr. Macedo said that it was important to ensure that these exercises did not distract the Conference from its main area of concern which was agreement on a programme of work.

Mr. Bekhbat said that the public plenary would immediately be followed by a private plenary to discuss the issue of prevention of an arms race in outer space.

The President said that the next plenary of the Conference would be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 3 June. It would be followed by an informal plenary to discuss effective international arrangements to ensure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.

Statements

KHASBAZARYN BEKHBAT (Mongolia), incoming President of the Conference, expressed his sincere thanks to the Conference for having so generously placed its confidence in Mongolia to preside over the deliberations for the coming four weeks. It was an honour and great privilege for Mongolia. He recalled that three years ago, the Foreign Minister of Mongolia had addressed the Conference to present the main trends in the country’s policies in arms control and disarmament. The Minister had said it was urgent to bring the Conference out of its deadlock, and that the necessary adequate political will needed to be shown in order to inject a new dynamism in the Conference. If the Minister were to come to speak again today, very little of the speech would need to be changed. The Conference was still unable to get down to substantial work due to the disagreement on the programme of work. Mongolia shared the disappointment and frustration felt by other Member States. However, these feelings had not in any way diluted confidence in the vocation and central role of the Conference as the most appropriate negotiating body in the field of international disarmament.

Mr. Bekhbat said that thanks to the collective wisdom within the Conference, he believed that the Conference would be able to stand up and face the challenges. It was in this spirit and hope and humility that he embarked on his work as President of the Conference. He would try to build on the tremendous wealth and experience left by the work of his predecessors, to whom he paid tribute. The outgoing President, Ambassador Pablo Macedo of Mexico, worked hard to put new momentum in the work of the Conference by starting the informal plenaries. Mongolia had already started its bilateral consultations and would continue them in the hope of reaching a consensus on the programme of work. He would also be convening formal plenaries, followed by informal plenaries. He reminded the Conference of the timetable proposed by his predecessor which he would stick to in the conviction that the informal plenaries could help the Conference move closer to its primary objectives. He called upon all delegations to use the time available before the summer recess with the greatest efficiency in order to find a way out of the current stalemate which had affected the Conference for the past eight years. He would be available to any delegation which wished to share ideas with him and through him with other delegations.

PABLO MACEDO (Mexico), outgoing President of the Conference, said that he would present to the Conference his assessment of the discussions held with respect to the first two topics of the agenda which were two aspects of the same broader question on nuclear disarmament. Participation in the informal plenaries had revealed once more the importance which the international community placed on the issue of nuclear disarmament. He would not aspire to provide a summary of all the views which were expressed during the meetings. However, he proposed to identify the main features in the debate which could guide the efforts of the Conference to adopt a programme of work, an objective which the Conference must not lose sight of.

Mr. Macedo said that he was convinced that the Five Ambassadors or A5 proposal continued to represent a formula which came closest to gaining a consensus on the programme of work. He hoped that the remaining issues could be smoothed out, adding that more information needed to be known about some of these issues. Clear importance in the informal plenaries had been attached to nuclear disarmament and the undertaking by nuclear-weapon States to eliminate their arsenals. The need to enter into force the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was important. The CTBT was the last treaty created by the Conference. The next treaty should concern the prohibition of fissile material. The debate in the informal plenaries had also emphasized that nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation were two sides of the same coin and efforts to reach them were complementary and mutually beneficial.

Debate was also heard on horizontal nuclear non-proliferation and security and terrorism. Two proposals had been made during these meetings which could encourage activity in the Conference. The first was the possibility of the assessment of nuclear disarmament measures which had already taken place, and what further measures could be taken. To conduct this exercise, a high level of transparency would be needed. It would also be helpful if the Conference held a series of sessions to analyse the role currently played by security. The second issue concerned the creation of a technical group to discuss the prohibition of fissile material. This approach would furnish valuable elements which showed what the prohibition of fissile materials entailed. These two practical proposals merited further study, and they could be further discussed after the Conference finished discussing the items of the agenda in the informal plenaries.

In closing, Mr. Macedo said that it was important to ensure that these exercises did not distract the Conference from its main area of concern which was agreement on a programme of work. He also noted that while a number of delegations had said that the A5 proposal was not as ambitious as they would like it to be, there had been no requests for changes. This made him believe that it was ripe for work. He also urged Member States to discuss each item on its own merits and disadvantages and to avoid any linkages.

DORU COSTEA (Romania) said he was pleased to let the Conference know about the third meeting of the National Authorities of the Eastern-European States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) which was held in Bucharest from 17 to 19 May. The meeting was organized jointly by the Romanian Chemical Weapons Convention National Authority, the National Agency for Export Controls and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and was attended by the representatives of 25 national authorities belonging to all regions of the world, as well as the international organizations, the World Customs Organization, and the European Council of Chemical Industry Associations. Participants discussed the practical measures needed to fulfil the objectives of the OPCW Article VII Action Plan on enhancing the effectiveness of the CWC’s National Implementation Measures. In the course of the meeting, the status of the Convention’s implementation in Eastern Europe was reviewed, focusing on the CWC’s requirements for legislative and administrative provisions to monitor and declare transfers of scheduled chemicals. The United States and Romania launched an assistance programme for the implementation of the Convention.

In conclusion, Mr. Costea said he would like to express the assessment of the organizers of the event that this meeting would develop the results of the previous meetings and would contribute to bolstering the regional network and the international efforts to ensure the CWS’s sustainable and effective implementation.

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