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Excerpted from the Inventory of International Organizations
and Regimes 2001 published by the CNS International Organizations and Nonproliferation
Project. A complete PDF copy of the 2000 edition of the Inventory is available in the Publications section of the NTI website.
Established: 1979.
Membership: 66 states.
Observers: 33 states.
Formed in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of
the international community after agreement was reached among member states
during the first special session of the UNGA devoted to disarmament (1978). The
CD is the successor to the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament (TNDC), Geneva,
1960; the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament (ENDC), Geneva, 1962-68; and
the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (CCD), Geneva, 1969-78.
As originally constituted, the CD had 40 members, however, following the
unification of Germany and the break up of the former Yugoslavia, only 38
countries participated in the work of the Conference until 1995.
On 17 June 1995, the CD unanimously decided to admit 23 members: Algeria, Argentina,
Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon,
Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania,
Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka,
Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, UK, U.S., Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yugoslavia,
Zaire, and Zimbabwe. (Yugoslavia, by agreement, does not occupy its seat or
take part in deliberations, pending the resolution of conflict in the Balkans.)
The CD has a special relationship with the United Nations. It adopts its own
rules of procedure and its own agenda, taking into account the recommendations
made by the UNGA and the proposals presented by its members. It reports to the
General Assembly annually or more frequently, as appropriate. The budget of
the CD is included in that of the United Nations, and the CD meets on UN premises
and is serviced by UN personnel. The Conference conducts its work by consensus.
The agenda of the CD covers all multilateral arms control and disarmament issues.
The CD and its predecessors have negotiated such multilateral arms control,
nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements as the Non-Proliferation Treaty,
Environmental Modification and Seabed treaties, the Biological and Toxic Weapons
Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test
Ban Treaty.
The Agenda of the CD includes:
- Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear
disarmament;
- Prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters;
- Prevention of an arms race in outer space;
- Effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon
states against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons;
- New types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such
weapons including radiological weapons;
- Comprehensive program of disarmament;
- Prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear
weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;
- Transparency in armaments; and
- Consideration and adoption of the annual report and any other
report, as appropriate, to the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Work of the CD:
Since the conclusion of the negotiations of the CTBT in August 1996, the CD
has remained deadlocked. It has not been able to agree on its program of work
and without agreement on that, the Conference cannot realize its mandate and
commence substantive deliberations. The principal problems include difficulties
in the current relations between key players, attempts of some countries to link
progress in one area to parallel progress in other areas. The key items under
consideration include: a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT), nuclear
disarmament, the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS), and security
assurances. Since the Conference bases its work on the rule of consensus, it has
become enormously difficult to overcome existing difficulties.
Dates for the CD sessions in 2001: January 22 to March 30; May 14 to June 29; and July 30 to September
14.
After five weeks of its 2001 Session, the Conference on Disarmament was
unable to break the deadlock over its program of work. The new President of the
CD Ambassador Christopher Westdal of Canada attempted to secure the members'
consensus on the program of work by bridging differences between the main
players with respect to the Draft program of work tabled by Brazil in August
2000 (CD/1624) because it had enjoyed the support of most countries. However, it
became apparent that the key players were not yet ready to go for concessions
given the difficult political climate and with the NMD issue at center stage.
The statements by the Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Pakistan's
Foreign Secretary Inam ul Haque at the opening Plenary of the 2001 Session, and
statements by China and the United States, once again reinforced the sense that
reaching agreement on PAROS and FMCT in particular, and on the program of work
in general, is thus far impossible.
Given the stalemate over the key issues of the program of work, some
countries proposed that the Conference could do something in the meantime.
Myanmar put forward a "Plan B" proposal saying that pending an agreement on the
program of work, the CD should convene plenary meetings devoted to substantive
items on its agreed agenda. Delegations would be encouraged to submit papers,
working papers and non-papers and put forward concrete proposals in order to
make optimum use of the plenary meetings while efforts to reach agreement on the
program of work will continue. This proposal enjoyed support of some
delegations.
Other delegations cautioned the Conference against any sort of make-work
solution, which might reduce the relevance of the CD as a negotiating body. New
Zealand and South Africa suggested strengthening the Amorim proposal to
adequately reflect the NPT undertakings with respect to the issues of nuclear
disarmament and FMCT. This approach supported by Canada and several other
countries was designed to prevent "thematic discussions" that ran the risk of
providing convenient cover for those who did not want to engage in real
negotiations and keep up the pressure on the key players to fulfill pledges made
at the 2000 NPT Review Conference.
By the end of the first part of its 2001 Session, the Conference on
Disarmament had been unable to agree on the program of work or other ways to
resume its substantive work. Ambassadors Juan Enrique Vega of Chile succeeded
Ambassador Christopher Westdal of Canada on the post of the President of CD. As
of the end of the first part of the 2001 Session, the President of the
Conference is Ambassador Hu Xiaodi of China, and will be followed by Ambassador
Camilo Reyes of Colombia.
Dates for CD sessions in 2000: 17 January to 24 March; 22 May to 7 July; 07 August to 22
September.
The Conference on Disarmament entered its 2000 Session after having failed
to agree on its Program of Work in 1999 or to engage in substantive work for
three consecutive years. This situation caused a sense of deep frustration among
the CD members who questioned the very existence of the Conference due to its
inability to address pressing matters of disarmament and nonproliferation.
Several delegations even raised the issue of establishing an alternative body to
deal with these matters. In March, Germany, on behalf of 22 countries, proposed
that the CD should address in the first instance the issues on which agreement
had already been reached while continuing to discuss the outstanding items in
order to find compromise solutions. This position came into conflict with the
position of certain countries, namely China, insisting on the comprehensive and
balanced nature of the Program of Work. Germany also argued that the Program of
Work should address the real problems of international security.
The CD Presidents, through informal presidential consultations and meetings
of the regional groups, tried to lead the Conference out of the deadlock by
crafting various compromise drafts of the Program of Work. In the beginning
of the 2000 Session, the outgoing President, Ambassador Harald Kreid of Austria,
declared the Dembri Package set forth during the 1999 Session as the "point
of departure" for reaching an agreement on the Program of Work. The following
presidential proposals reflected the ideas and spirit of the Dembri Proposal
while containing "more acceptable language" for the Members States. Ambassador
Kreid's proposal contained three possible options for the Program of Work. Option
1 provided for appointment of Special Coordinators on PAROS and nuclear disarmament
as well as the re-establishment of the subsidiary bodies and the Special Coordinators
with their mandates on all other substantial items, including FMCT. Option 2
excluded FMCT from that list but contained a non-negotiated statement by the
President with regard to this item. Option 3 - a minimum option - contained
appointment of Special Coordinators on PAROS and nuclear disarmament with submission
by the President, as an official CD document, of his proposal for a draft decision
concerning the re-establishment of the subsidiary bodies and re-appointment
of Special Coordinators with their mandates on all other substantial items.
The proposal by the President, Ambassador Martynov of Belarus, contained priority
and contingency actions. The former provided for the continuation of presidential
consultations on setting up subsidiary bodies on outstanding issues, while the
latter considered holding informal focused plenary meetings on all issues of
substance on a rotation basis until the Program of Work was adopted. The proposal
by the President, Ambassador Jean Lint of Belgium (CD/1620), included establishment
of an Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate FMCT, An Ad Hoc Committee/Ad Hoc Working
Group to deal with nuclear disarmament "through an exchange of information and
views on practical steps for progressive and systematic efforts to attain this
objective," and an Ad Hoc Committee/Ad Hoc Working Group "to examine and identify
specific topics or proposals that might be a basis for subsequent in-depth consideration"
of the issue of PAROS. The proposal by Celso Amorim of Brazil in August followed
closely Lint's proposal and provided for establishment of four Ad Hoc Committees
to deal with fissile material, PAROS, nuclear disarmament, and negative security
assurances. Intended to address China's concern of balanced approach to the
issues it failed to do so because in China's view, Amorim's proposed mandates
for Ad Hoc committees were differently weighted - they proposed negotiation
mandate for fissban, and only discussion mandate for PAROS. By the end of the
2000 Session (September 22) neither of the proposals enjoyed consensus and the
prospects of the CD to start substantive work early in 2001 were very slim.
The issues on which consensus was absent in 2000 remained PAROS and nuclear
disarmament. Moreover, conditions outside the Conference, namely setbacks to the
entry into force of the CTBT and the U.S. plans to deploy NMD, worsened the
prospect of attaining consensus on these items. Some countries proposed that an
Ad Hoc Committee to start negotiations on a phased program of nuclear
disarmament and eventual elimination of nuclear weapons should be established as
soon as possible. Other Member States called on the CD to establish an Ad Hoc
Committee to negotiate an international legally binding mechanism preventing the
weaponization of outer space by prohibiting testing, deploying and using weapons
and weapon systems there. All the aforementioned proposals did not reach
consensus in the Conference. The problem became even more acute, when the issue
of FMCT joined the group of unresolved issues following the change in position
of China, which linked negotiation on FMCT with negotiation on PAROS and nuclear
disarmament, thus blocking any possible progress to re-establish the Ad Hoc
Committee on the negotiation of FMCT in particular and adoption of the Program
of Work in general. On the other side, certain countries regarded issues of
nuclear disarmament and PAROS as not equal in their status to the issue of FMCT
thus refusing to include them in the package. The U.S. stuck to the position that
nuclear disarmament and PAROS were not ripe for treaty negotiations in the CD
because there was no consensus on proposals for such negotiations, while such a
consensus had been reached with respect to FMCT, which was reflected in the
"Principles and Objectives" document of the 1995 NPT Review
Conference. Following the successful outcome of the 2000 NPT Review Conference,
there was an expectation of a possible start of substantive work on these
issues. However, great differences with respect to approaching the items of FMCT
and PAROS, mainly voiced by China, U.S. and Russia continued to prevent the CD
from adopting its program of work and getting down to substantive work. The
U.S.-China debate on the issue of NMD and relationship between FMCT and PAROS
sometimes resembled polemics in the Cold War-style and became sharper in tone
than ever before. The U.S. went as far as accusing China of attempting to block
negotiations on FMCT by holding them hostage to PAROS. By the end of the 2000
Session, all attempts to agree on the program of work and at least come to an
agreement on the program of work for the next year were unsuccessful.
The stalemate in the CD triggered a discussion on the rules of procedure of
the Conference. Some Members States called for "procedural reform" of the CD.
Certain delegations proposed that the rule of consensus should be abolished
at least with respect to decisions on procedural matters, such as the Program
of Work or appointment of Special Coordinators and establishment of subsidiary
bodies. Some delegations also voiced a desire to change the procedure, which
necessitated the re-establishment of subsidiary bodies each session. However,
many delegations are reluctant to do anything requiring a reform of the CD's
rules of procedure, particularly regarding the consensus rule. In the view of
such a miserable state of affairs in the Conference on the turn of the new millennium,
the CD raised the question of attracting more high-level attention to the work
of the Conference in the capitals of Members States. The outgoing Deputy Secretary-General
of the CD Abdelkader Bensmail argued however that that deadlock was not due
to the CD's rules of procedure, working methods or its group system. Rather,
he maintained, it was the political will and unfavorable political climate between
the major players that laid in the crux of the Conference's difficulties.
Closing its 2000 Session for the fourth consecutive year without having
begun any negotiations or established subsidiary bodies, the CD adopted its
annual report to the UNGA on 21 September 2000. The report noted that the CD had
conducted intensive consultations, considered both formal and informal proposals
without having agreed on the program of work and without having established any
mechanism on any of its agenda items. Costa Rica expressed it desire to join the
CD as a permanent member.
Documents of the Conference on Disarmament (2000):
http://www.unog.ch/disarm/curdoc/curdoc00.htm
CD/1601: Letter dated 13 December 1999 from the Permanent Representative of
Peru: Transmitting a Text entitled, "Lima Calling", adopted by the member States
of OPANAL during the sixteenth regular session of the General Conference, held
in Lima, Peru, on 30 November - 1 December 1999.
CD/1603 Agenda for the 2000 session (Adopted at the 837th plenary meeting,
on 18 January 2000)
CD/1605: Letter dated 26 January 2000 from the Permanent Representatives of
China and the Russian Federation Transmitting a Joint Statement made by
President Jiang Zemin and President Boris Yeltsin, on 10 December
1999.
CD/1606: Letter dated 9 February 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
China transmitting a Working Paper entitled, "China's Position on and Suggestions
for ways to address the issue of Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space at
the Conference on Disarmament."
CD/1609: New Zealand. Resolution on nuclear disarmament adopted by the New
Zealand Parliament, 23 February 2000.
CD/1611: Letter dated 20 April 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
the Russian Federation transmitting the text of a Statement made on 14 April
2000 by Mr. Vladimir V. Putin, Acting President of the Russian Federation, in
connection with the ratification by the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of
the Russian Federation of the START-II Treaty and of the package of 1997
Agreements on the Anti-Missile Defense.
CD/1612: Letter dated 25 April 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
the Russian Federation transmitting the text of a Statement made on 21 April
2000 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with the Ratification of
the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty by the State Duma of the Federal
Assembly of the Russian Federation.
CD/1613: Letter dated 22 May 2000 from the Permanent Representative of the
Russian Federation transmitting the text of a Statement made on 18 May 2000 by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with the Completion of the Process
of Ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty by the State Duma
of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
CD/1615: Letter dated 25 May 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
Pakistan addressed to the Secretary-General of the Conference transmitting the
text of a Statement made by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan on the outcome of
the Sixth Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), held in New
York from24 April to 20 May 2000.
CD/1618: Letter dated 21 June 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
Colombia addressed to the Secretary-General of the Conference transmitting the
text of the paragraphs related to disarmament contained in the document
entitled: "Cartagena de Indias Declaration Rio Group 2000: Commitment for the
Millennium," adopted at the Fourteenth Summit meeting of the heads of state and
government of the Rio Group, held on 15 and 16 June 2000.
CD/1619: Letter dated 22 June 2000 from the Permanent Representative of the
Russian Federation addressed to the Secretary-General of the Conference
transmitting the text of a Statement made on 17 June 200 by Mr. Vladimir V.
Putin, President of the Russian Federation, on the occasion of the Seventy-Fifth
anniversary of the signing of the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the Twenty-Fifth
anniversary of the entry into force of the Biological Weapons
Convention.
CD/1620: Proposal by the President on the Program of Work for the 2000
session of the Conference of Disarmament.
CD/1622: Letter dated 1 August 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
China to the Conference on Disarmament and the Permanent Representative of the
Russian Federation addressed to the Secretary-General of the Conference
transmitting the Chinese and Russian texts of the Joint Statement made by the
Presidents of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on 18
July 2000 concerning anti-missile defense.
CD/1623: Letter dated 4 August 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
the Republic of Kazakhstan addressed to the Secretary-General of the Conference
on Disarmament transmitting the text of a statement by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs concerning the Kazakh-United States calibrating experiment "Omega 3" at
the former Semipalatinsk test site.
CD/1624: Proposal by the President on the Program of Work for the 2000
session of the Conference of Disarmament. Draft decision
1999: It was hoped that negotiations on a treaty to ban the
production of fissile material for explosives (FMCT) would begin during the 1999
session of the CD. However, due to both internal and external factors, the
Conference was unable to adopt a program of work for the year, thus preventing
the re-establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to resume the work begun in August
of 1998. Despite successive efforts of the CD Presidents, CD members could not
find consensus on how to treat two agenda items - Nuclear Disarmament and
Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space - within the work program. Many
of the non-aligned States pressed for an Ad Hoc Committee on Nuclear
Disarmament, stating that the troika consultations of the preceding year were
not a permanent solution. However, the nuclear weapons states were reluctant to
agree to anything more involved than the troika arrangement. China led the
effort to re-establish an Ad Hoc Committee on Prevention of an Arms Race in
Outer Space. However, the United States was unwilling to address the issue
multilaterally.
The "Dembri Proposals," named after Ambassador Mohamed-Salah Dembri
(Algeria) who held the presidency during the second session of the 1999 Conference,
called for both an Ad Hoc Working Group "with a view to preventing the weaponization
of outer space" and an Ad Hoc Working Group "to exchange information and views
on endeavors towards nuclear disarmament." However, these proposals were unable
to achieve full consensus. During the third session of the conference, the CD
admitted five new members: Ecuador, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Tunisia.
These countries - representing diverse geo-political regions as well as
distinct groups within the CD structure - were admitted after lingering
reservations of member countries were finally dropped.
Documents of the Conference on Disarmament (1999)
http://www.unog.ch/disarm/curdoc/curdoc98.htm
CD/1560: Letter dated 6 January 1999 from the Permanent Representative of
the Russian Federation transmitting a Statement made by a Representative of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the Adaptation of the Treaty on
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
CD/1562: Agenda for the 1999 session.
CD/1563: Egypt - Draft mandate for an ad hoc committee on nuclear
disarmament
CD/1564: South Africa - Interpretation of the Rules of Procedure of
the Conference on Disarmament.
CD/1565: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway: Proposal on nuclear
disarmament.
CD/1566: Proposal by the President on the programme of work for the 1999
session of the CD.
CD/1567: Proposal by the President on the Expansion of the Membership of
the Conference on Disarmament.
CD/1568: Canada - Proposal concerning CD action on nuclear
disarmament.
CD/1569: Canada - Proposal concerning CD action on outer
space.
CD/1570: Group of 77 - Proposal on the programme of work.
CD/1571: Group of 21 - Draft decision and mandate on the establishment of
an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament.
CD/1574: Canada - Working Paper: Nuclear Disarmament: Substantive
Discussion in the Conference on Disarmament.
CD/1575: Proposal by the President on the programme of work for the 1999
session of the CD.
CD/1576: China - Reestablishment of an ad hoc committee on the
prevention of an arms race in outer space and its mandate: draft
decision.
CD/1577: Letter dated 17 March 1999 from the Permanent Representative of
the Russian Federation transmitting a Statement made by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Russian Federation on 12 March 1999 in connection with the
official entry of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in NATO.
CD/1578: Canada - Working Paper. Elements of an Approach To Dealing
With Stocks of Fissile Materials for Nuclear Weapons or Other Nuclear Explosive
Devices.
CD/1580: Letter dated 25 March 1999 from the Permanent Representative of
the Russian Federation transmitting the text of an Official Statement made by
the Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
on 18 March 1999 in connection with the Adoption by the Senate of the United
States of America of a Bill on Deployment of a National Missile Defense
System.
CD/1584: Letter dated 28 April 1999 from the Permanent Representative of
the Russian Federation and the Acting Head of the Delegation of China
transmitting a Joint Press Communiqué on Issues Related to the ABM
Treaty.
CD/1586: France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and
the United States of America: Working paper on the programme of work of the
Conference.
CD/1588: Decision on the Expansion of the Membership of the Conference on
Disarmament.
CD/1595: Report of the Conference on Disarmament to the General Assembly of
the United Nations.
CD/1600: Letter dated 26 November 1999 from the Permanent Representative of
the Russian Federation transmitting the Text of a Statement made by the Official
Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on
23 November 1999, in connection with the Submission of the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty, signed by Russia on 26 September 1996, to the State
Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation for
Ratification.
1998: On 26 March 1998 the CD adopted its Program of Work, contained
in document CD/1501. Based on this program, the CD decided to establish an Ad
Hoc Committee on negative security assurances (NSA). To address Nuclear Disarmament
issues, the CD established a mechanism of consultations held under the auspices
of the presidential "troika" consisting of the past, present and incoming
Presidents. The CD also appointed six Special Coordinators to address prevention
of an arms race in outer space, a comprehensive program of disarmament, transparency
in armaments, a review of the CD agenda, the expansion of its membership, and
its improved and effective functioning. On 11 August, the CD established an
Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) to
ban the production of fissile material for weapons purposes.
Nuclear disarmament was the most pervasive point of contention in the CD. Due
to widespread differences of opinion on how to proceed, it was not possible
to reach an agreement on the establishment of a mechanism to negotiate nuclear
disarmament issues. The non-aligned states continued to stress the utmost importance
of nuclear disarmament; a number of other delegations, including some from the
Western group, supported the idea of establishing a consultative mechanism to
facilitate cooperation, information sharing and accountability in nuclear disarmament
matters. A considerable number of delegations considered the presidential "troika"
consultations useful in addressing the issue at this point in time. In his final
report to the CD the outgoing President recommended that the Conference resume
the troika consultations in its next session in 1999.
Security Assurances: Pertaining to the decision, contained in
document CD/1501, the Conference on Disarmament agreed to establish an Ad Hoc
Committee under agenda item 4 entitled "Effective international arrangements
to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear
weapons." The Committee was established with a view to negotiate an international
legally binding instrument that will assure non-nuclear-weapon States against
the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. The discussions of the committee
primarily focused on the issues of nature and scope of currently existing positive
and negative security assurances, as expressed in NWS declarations and the protocols
to the nuclear-weapon-free-zone Treaties; and addressed certain definitions
that required clarification, in particular: aggression, attack, invasion, dependent
territories, associations and alliances, and security commitments. However,
the committee was unable to reach any consensus on the ways and means of further
dealing with this issue. The Chairman's final report (CD/1554) on the work of
the committee noted that there was no consensus reached on the issue, provided
a list of all the relevant documents, and in its annex a summary of all the
views and national positions regarding this issue. The report also included
a recommendation that the work of the committee be resumed in 1999.
Prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons
or other nuclear explosive devices: In 1994, The CD appointed a Special
Coordinator, Ambassador Gerald Shannon (Canada), to seek the views of its members
on the most appropriate arrangement to negotiate a nondiscriminatory, multilateral
and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production
of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices (FMCT).
After 14 months of consultations the CD agreed, on 23 March 1995, on a mandate
for a FMCT negotiation based on UNGA resolution 48/75L (of 16 December 1993).
The NPT Review and Extension Conference called for the "immediate commencement
and early conclusion of negotiations" on a FMCT, as have subsequent NPT PrepComs.
During the 1995, 1996, and 1997 sessions of the CD, while consultations continued
no agreement was reached on establishing an ad committee on this item. On 11
August 1998, the CD adopted a decision contained in document CD/1547 on the
establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on the ban on production of fissile material
under agenda item 1, on the basis of the 1995 Shannon report and the mandate
contained therein (CD/1299). Following the adoption of that decision the President
read out his statement in which he stressed that the decision was "without prejudice
to any further decisions on the establishment of further subsidiary bodies under
agenda item 1," and ensured the pursuance of intensive consultations to seek
further ways and means to deal with the agenda item one on nuclear disarmament.
In view of the limited time available for the work of the committee before
the closing of the 1998 session of the CD, it did not achieve any substantive
progress and failed to resolve long-standing conflicts pertaining to the issue
of stockpiles and ways in which this measure related to the issues of nonproliferation
and/or nuclear disarmament. The Chairman's final report on the work of the "Agenda
item 1 committee on banning fissile material production," (CD/1555) provided
a list of CD documents relating to this issue.
Preventing an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS): Despite the
fact that there was a widespread support for dealing with this issue, no
consensus was achieved on how to proceed. The Special Coordinator introduced a
draft mandate for negotiating measures of preventing an arms race in outer
space, and suggested that its text serve as the basis for the renewed 1999
consultations on this issue, with an aim of reestablishing an ad hoc committee
on agenda item 3.
Anti-Personnel Land mines (APL): The Conference was unable to
reach consensus on the establishment of an ad hoc committee to negotiate a ban
on the transfer of anti-personnel land mines.
Transparency in Armaments (TIA): In his final report on the
outcome of discussions under agenda item 7 on TIA, the Special Coordinator
concluded that there seemed to be widespread support in the CD for the
establishment of an AHC on this issue with a view of negotiating an
international instrument. According to the report, his consultations primarily
dealt with the merits of TIA; the ways of dealing with TIA within the CD, and
the scope of possible activity on the issue.
Improved and Effective Functioning of the CD: According to the
Special Coordinator's final report, the consultations mainly focused on three
main issues: the question of maintaining the continuity of the work of the CD
from one session to the next; the question of a somewhat permanent establishment
of "standing committees" to deal with substantive and technical issues;
and the possibility for the President to appoint "friends of the President"
to facilitate the discussion and communication among delegations on certain
issues. There was also a proposal to formalize the mechanism of open-ended consultations.
Despite the Special Coordinator's support for various proposals on these issues,
there was no agreement on any of them.
Review of the Agenda: While no agreement was reached on how to
proceed with this issue, the Special Coordinator noted that some delegations
advocated keeping the current agenda (as recommended by the UNSSOD I) with nuclear
disarmament as an item of high priority. Other delegations suggested placing
all issues under three main headings of Nuclear Disarmament, Conventional Disarmament,
and "Other Items". In his final report, the Special Coordinator included
a recommendation for pursuing this issue further in 1999.
Expansion of the CD: Despite being very close to reaching a
consensus on the adoption of the proposal made by the Special Coordinator to
admit five new members representatives of five regions (Ecuador from Latin
America, Ireland from Western Europe, Kazakhstan from Eastern Europe, Malaysia
from Asia, and Tunisia from Africa), the final decision was blocked by Iran and
postponed until 1999.
The Conference on Disarmament closed its 1998 session by adopting its final
report to the United Nations General Assembly on 9 September. In its report, the
Conference provided a summary of the decisions and appointments, as well as the
list of all documents and important statements, and recalled a number of
relevant resolutions from the 52nd United Nations General Assembly. Despite the
fact that most of the May 1998 CD plenary meetings were dominated by discussions
on the Indian and Pakistan nuclear tests, the annual report did not address this
issue.
Documents of the Conference on Disarmament (1998):
http://www.unog.ch/disarm/curdoc/curold98.htm
CD/1483: South Africa - Draft Decision and Mandate on the Establishment of
an Ad Hoc Committee on Nuclear Disarmament.
CD/1484: Agenda for the 1998 Session.
CD/1485: Canada - Working Paper with regard to an Ad Hoc Committee on a Fissile
Material Cut-Off Treaty.
CD/1486: Canada - Working Paper Concerning CD Action on Nuclear Disarmament.
CD/1487: Canada - Working Paper Concerning CD Action on Outer Space.
CD/1492: Austria - Draft Decision on the Reestablishment of an Ad Hoc Committee
to Negotiate a Treaty Banning the Production of Fissile Material for Nuclear
Weapons or Other Nuclear Explosive Devices.
CD/1494: The Netherlands - Draft Decision.
CD/1495: Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, Russian
Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland, United States of America and Venezuela - Draft
decision.
CD/1496: Belgium - Proposal on Nuclear Issues.
CD/1500: Presidential declaration.
CD/1501: Decision adopted by the conference.
CD/1502: Canada - Questions related to work in the CD on negative
security assurances.
CD/1547: Decision on the establishment of an ad hoc committee under item 1
of the agenda entitled "Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear
disarmament."
CD/1548: Statement made by the President following the adoption of decision
CD/1547 on the establishment of an ad hoc committee under agenda item 1 entitled
"Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear
disarmament".
CD/1554: Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Effective International
Arrangements to Assure non-nuclear-weapon States Against the Use or Threat of
Use of Nuclear Weapons.
CD/1555: Report of the Ad Hoc Committee Under Item 1 of the Agenda Entitled
"Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and Nuclear
Disarmament".
CD/1557: Report of the Conference on Disarmament to the General Assembly of
the United Nations.
1997: At the end of the first session, the CD adopted a
"Non-Paper by the President" with a proposal on the Program of Work.
The President stated the agenda item "Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race
and Nuclear Disarmament" should be given "an extremely high
priority".
During the first session, the CD also decided to establish an Ad Hoc
Committee on negative security assurances with a view to eventually negotiating
an internationally legally binding instrument. The CD also appointed Special
Coordinators on prevention of an arms race in outer space, comprehensive program
of disarmament, transparency in armaments, as well as on the review of the CD
agenda, the expansion of its membership, and its improved and effective
functioning.
While nuclear disarmament remains a point of contention, the issue of a
fissile material cut-off treaty received significant support from many in the
CD. The progress on this issue, however, is undermined by the continuing
difficulties between the nuclear-weapon states and some states of the G-21 on
setting up an Ad Hoc committee on nuclear disarmament.
In 1997, the CD failed to reach an agreement on reestablishing Ad Hoc
committees on prevention of an arms race in outer space, security assurances for
non-nuclear weapons States against the use or threat of such weapons, and
transparency in armaments. The General Assembly encouraged the CD to restore Ad
Hoc committees on these issues during the 1998 session.
Secretary-General of the Conference and Personal Representative of the UN
Secretary-General to the CD - Vladimir Petrovsky (Russia).
Deputy Secretary-General: Enrique Román-Morey (Peru).
8-14 Avenue de la Paix,
Palais des Nations, CH-1211
Geneva 10,
SWITZERLAND.
Tel: (41 22) 917 2280.
FAX: (41 22) 917
0034.
http://www.unog.ch/disarm/dconf.htm
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