2 June 2004
Rhianna Tyson, Project Associate
Last week, Romania, Mongolia and Mexico took the floor at the Conference on Disarmament. Mexico's Ambassador Pablo Macedo, outgoing President of the CD, delivered two separate statements.
All statements from the 2004 session can be found at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/index.html
Romania's Ambassador Doru Costea informed the Conference of the third meeting of the National Authorities of the Eastern European States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, held in Bucharest from 17 to 19 May. At that meeting, States Parties discussed ways in which to fulfill the objectives of the Article VII Action Plan which calls upon States Parties to, inter alia, enact the necessary national legislation, including penal legislation, to implement the Convention and to provide the Secretariat with the full text of their national implementing legislation. Participants at the Bucharest meeting also discussed ways of enhancing the efficacy of the CWC's National Implementation Measures.
Mongolia's Ambassador Bekhbat, the incoming President of the CD, stated that he plans to continue holding informal plenaries directly after the formal plenaries, based on the schedule devised by Ambassador Macedo. The remaining sessions are scheduled as follows:
June 3: Effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon states against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons (NSA).
June 10: New types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons; radiological weapons.
June 17: Comprehensive program of disarmament.
June 24: Transparency in armaments.
With the end of the second session of 2004 drawing near, he urged all Member States to maximize the few weeks that remain.
Ambassador Macedo used his time on the floor to present his own summary of the informal discussions that had taken place under his presidency, with the hopes of identifying the major themes which could guide the efforts of the Conference to break the near eight year deadlock.
Ambassador Macedo remains convinced that the A5 Proposal "continues to represent the closest formula to consensus" for a program of work for the Conference. No delegation under his presidency proposed a change to the A5 proposal, although some delegations, he noted, consider that the newer version "is not as ambitious" as some would have hoped.
He stressed the importance of nuclear disarmament and the unequivocal undertaking to abolish nuclear weapons as promised by the nuclear powers in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the NPT, a document that proved to be highly contentious atthis past PrepCom in New York. Member States, according to Ambassador Macedo, also stressed the importance of the CTBT's entry-into-force as well as the conclusion of negotiations of an FMCT based upon the Shannon Mandate. The outgoing president also emphasized that disarmament and nonproliferation, "two sides of the same coin," are complementary and mutually reinforcing. He deemed that "it is also worthy to mention" the present challenges of security, including terrorism and the possible acquisition by non-state actors of nuclear weapons materials.
The Mexican ambassador then broached two proposals that "could impel activity of the Conference."
First, he discussed the idea of an "evaluation" of the progress made in nuclear disarmament. Such a study could examine what steps toward disarmament have already been taken, what actions have been undertaken to curb both horizontal as well as vertical proliferation, and also examine what else needs to be done in both of these mutually reinforcing challenges. "In order to carry out such exercise," said the ambassador, "a significant level of transparency is necessary." He suggested also that the Conference dedicate "a series of sessions to analyze" the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines.
Secondly, he discussed the possible establishment of a Group of Experts to approach technical questions related to a Treaty for the Prohibition of the Production of Nuclear Fuel. He reminded the Conference that "several decades ago, the Conference did something similar with respect to the prohibition of the nuclear tests," a study which helped "identify delicate questions related to the verification" now at work under the CTBTO. Such an approach, he suggested, "would contribute valuable elements that would allow better understanding of" the prohibition of nuclear fuel.
While he felt that "these two concrete proposals deserve to be studied," they should not detract "attention (from) our main preoccupation, the adoption of a work program." And with that he wished Ambassador Bekhbat the best of luck as he assumes the presidency for the end of this second session.
All statements can be found at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/index.html
See UNOG Press Releases at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/press04/pressindex.html
This and all other CD Advisories can be found at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/cd/speeches04/advisories.html
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