CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS ADDRESS BY FOREIGN MINISTER OF CANADA

The Conference on Disarmament today heard a statement from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada who affirmed his country’s commitment to achieving a balanced programme of work in the Conference and called on Member States to demonstrate good will towards that goal.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Pierre Pettigrew, said despite the paralysis that had afflicted the Conference on Disarmament over the past eight years, his country was aware that many of the members of the Conference were constructively engaged in a variety of disarmament activities, from small arms and light weapons through to weapons of mass destruction. For real change to occur, countries must realize that continued blockage of agreement on a Conference on Disarmament programme of work was more detrimental to security interests of those counties than it was beneficial, he added.

If the Conference was prevented from taking up the issues of the negotiation of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT), the consideration of the state of nuclear disarmament and the prevention of the weaponization of outer space, which were all issues that the affected global security environment, then other multilateral avenues for addressing them should and needed to be explored, the Minister stated.

While noting the upcoming Seventh Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York in May this year, the Canadian Minister said the Review came at a critical juncture for the Treaty, which had suffered several major shocks to its authority and integrity in recent years. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s recent assertion that it now possessed nuclear weapons, together with its reluctance to re-engage in the six party talks, underlined the grave risk to regional and international peace and security posed by its nuclear programme. Moreover, Iran’s extensive past undeclared nuclear activities, together with its efforts to acquire the full nuclear fuel cycle, had resulted in deep concerns about its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and strong suspicions that Iran had nuclear weapons ambitions.

According to Canada, the strengthening of the Review Conference in its effectiveness and power would require a balanced outcome that incorporated tangible progress on the three key elements of the Treaty: non-proliferation, peaceful use of nuclear energy and nuclear disarmament. Canada also wanted to reinforce States parties’ collective ownership and accountability for the Treaty and its implementation, through revised meeting arrangements. The inability of the Conference on Disarmament to commence its work, Mr. Pettigrew added, had a direct and significant impact on the NPT Review Conference.

Canada was convinced that the development of a negotiating mandate for the FMCT remained the best basis for initiating negotiations and Canada was prepared to engage in FMCT negotiations without any pre-conditions. Concerning nuclear disarmament, Canada would have preferred to see a more ambitious mandate that would consider specific measures and new instruments. On prevention of an arms race in outer space, Canada had long been associated with those believing that an international agreement banning the deployment of weapons in outer space was an increasingly necessary goal and could be a practical exercise in preventive diplomacy.

While recalling that his country had sponsored two symposiums on space security in Geneva, Mr. Pettigrew announced that Canada would be sending official speakers to a follow-up symposium to be held in Geneva on 21 and 22 March with co-sponsorship by China, Russia, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and Canada’s Simon’s Foundation.

When the Conference on Disarmament reconvenes at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday, 15 March, it will hear statements from the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ukraine, and from the Ambassador of Egypt on behalf of the Group of the 21.