Reaching Critical Will

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Concluding remark by outgoing Conference President, Ambassador John Duncan of United Kingdom to the Conference on Disarmament 17th June 2008

Unofficial Transcript

Mr. Secretary General and Distinguished Colleagues, it’s been a pleasure and an honor to preside over the CD in these past weeks.

Nationally, the United Kingdom continues to be a strong supporter of multilateral approaches to disarmament and as such welcomes the important work of this Conference. We have during our Presidency a number of very pertinent interventions.

When the UK assumed this Presidency four weeks ago, we noted the almost complete agreement around draft declaration CD/1840, a proposal which contains much of the substance of a similar decision put forward by 2007 CD Presidencies. So let us bear in mind that that is the view of 12 Presidencies, countries drawn from across the regional and political grouping of this institution. And when we took the Presidency upon ourselves, we called on remaining states to show flexibility and allow negotiations to begin on a FMCT together with substantive discussions, not simply just an exchange of view, but substantive discussions on the other issues. Regrettably, this has not yet happened and I sense the disappointment in the room. We welcome the commitment made by many colleagues and during our Presidency we have carried out a series of bilateral consultations in which we have equally welcomed the openness of these discussions which have increased our understanding of the differences. I do not believe that these are insurmountable but we do need to look at what is possible and what is achievable as was mentioned this morning, I do wonder whether it is realistic for this body can carry out four parallel negotiations. Are we not in the situation yet again, and so often in a multilateral diplomacy where the best is becoming the enemy of the good.

We believe that time still remains for us to grasp this metal and very much welcome the debate in public today but some of those who still have difficulties with the draft proposal. But as I say, I think we have time to grasp this metal and show the world that we are serious about the challenges we face.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Secretary General of the Conference on Disarmament, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, his deputy, and the Secretariat for their welcome assistance in the day to day running of the Conference and the interpreters for their hard work.

It is my pleasure to warming invite the Ambassador for the United States, Christina Rocca, and wish her the best of success with her Presidency in this challenging times. We will continue to work closely with Ambassador Rocca and other members of the P6 group of Presidencies together with all delegations present here over the remaining weeks. The Conference on Disarmament as has been said many times is the sole institution for the negotiation for multilateral disarmament instruments and our hope is that we will get it back to work. I would also like to thank those many colleagues who have many other increasing responsibilities placed upon them for their regular attendance at this Conference.