International Response:  Missile Code of Conduct May Be Ready by 2003

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Representatives from 100 countries met in Madrid last month to continue work on an international code of conduct intended to halt proliferation of ballistic missiles, sources recently told Global Security Newswire (see GSN, Feb. 15).

The June 17-19 meeting followed a February conference in Paris during which delegates approved a draft of the code.  More countries attended the meeting in Madrid than the Paris conference, which might indicate growing support, said Alex Wagner, an analyst with the Arms Control Association.

“Maybe the Paris meeting created a buzz that would make it more appealing,” he said.

North Korea and Syria — two countries with ballistic missile programs that have raised concerns — did not attend the Madrid meeting, according to Wagner.  Iran, which has also raised missile proliferation concerns and has previously played an active role in developing the code, also did not attend the meeting, Wagner said.  Tehran had previously indicated it would attend the meeting until about a week before it was scheduled to begin, he added.

At the Paris conference, more than 80 countries had agreed to a draft code, a political agreement that calls on signatories to declare their ballistic missile programs once a year and to alert other signatories before conducting any missile tests.  At the end of the conference, France agreed to revise the text of the code based on suggestions made during the meeting and transmit the revised text to Spain, who was to take over the EU presidency, Wagner said.

The European Union, now headed by Denmark, will be responsible for deciding what will be done next on the code of conduct, said Vann Van Diepen, acting deputy assistant U.S. secretary of state for nonproliferation.  The EU’s options on the code are “open-ended,” he added.  There is general consensus among the countries involved in the discussions that the code will be unveiled during a ceremony at The Hague before the end of the year, Wagner said.

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