Conference on Disarmament Hears Updates by the Coordinators of its Five Subsidiary Bodies on their Work

The Conference on Disarmament today heard updates by the coordinators of its five subsidiary bodies on their work so far.

Ambassador Tae Song Han of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said it was intention of the presidency to fully support the subsidiary bodies during this crucial segment of their work. Now was an important step in the last phase of the work of the subsidiary bodies; it was the hope that each subsidiary body could agree on the draft report in time. However, the challenges could not be ignored. Ambassador Han concluded by calling on all Member States to allow flexibility and the spirit of cooperation for the successful conclusion of the work of the Conference.

Lazhar Soualem, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Office at Geneva and coordinator of subsidiary body one on the cessation of the arms race and nuclear disarmament, said their work focused on three main pillars: a comprehensive approach to nuclear disarmament; convergence on substantive issues; and measures aimed at accelerating progress in a nuclear weapon free world. The first draft of the final report of the subsidiary body was planned for 16 June.

Claudia Fuentes Julio, Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations Office at Geneva and coordinator of subsidiary body three on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, reaffirmed the conviction that outer space was a broad- ranging complex issue and was of increasing relevance. Ms. Fuentes Julio was fully aware that the report must be a report of the Conference as a whole, and intended to produce a document which reflected the aspirations of all.

Ignacio Sànchez De Lerín García, Deputy Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Ambassador for Disarmament, and coordinator of subsidiary body two on the prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters, said three substantive meetings had been held, and some joint conclusions had been reached. Delegations had repeated their national positions which made it difficult to have a dialogue. If there was no agreement, this would be challenging, as there was no room for additional meetings.

Indra Rosandry, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations Office at Geneva and coordinator of subsidiary body four on effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, said three sessions had been convened, in which substantiative and deep discussion was held to reach consensus on the issue. The draft of the report would be circulated before the fourth session, with ample time for consideration.

Aleksander Pytalev, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations Office at Geneva and coordinator of subsidiary body five on new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, radiological weapons, a comprehensive programme of disarmament and transparency in armaments, said two substantiative sessions had been held, therefore, it was premature to share any questions relating to substantive parts of the report. He would look to include all comments from other States in the report and would circulate a draft in June.

In the discussion on the reports of the subsidiary bodies, one speaker said it was important that the reports were factual and were presented in a similar format. Another speaker expressed concern that there was limited time (17 days) to finalise the reports and adopt them during a plenary. A number of States called for work to be carried out in August through informal sessions, if necessary, while others said that ideally, work should be finalised by 1 July as planned.

Ambassador Han said the President of the Conference would decide what happened if consensus was not reached after each subsidiary body met for four sessions.

The following countries took the floor: Mexico, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Kingdom, France, Cuba, China, Ecuador, Russian Federation, Syria, Pakistan, Netherlands, Italy, United States, India and Iran.

The secretariat will announce when the Conference’s next public plenary will be.

Statements

Ambassador TAE SONG HAN of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, President of the Conference on Disarmament, welcomed Tatiana Valovoya, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, and thanked her for her presence at the meeting. Ambassador Han said it was the intention of the presidency to fully support the work of the subsidiary bodies during this crucial segment of their work. Bilateral consultations had been conducted in a positive, constructive and transparent manner. Each subsidiary body was now on track towards the last phase of their work. Ambassador Han expressed appreciation for the efforts made by the coordinators in organising the meetings. During his bilateral consultations, technical questions were raised regarding the drafting of the reports. Now was an important step in the last phase of the work of the subsidiary bodies; it was the hope that each subsidiary body could agree on the draft report in time. However, the challenges could not be ignored. Ambassador Han concluded by calling on all Member States to allow flexibility and the spirit of cooperation for the successful conclusion of the work of the Conference.

LAZHAR SOUALEM, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Office at Geneva and coordinator of subsidiary body one on the cessation of the arms race and nuclear disarmament, said the meetings of the subsidiary body had helped to make progress. The work focused on three main pillars: a comprehensive approach to nuclear disarmament; convergence on substantive issues; and measures aimed at accelerating progress in a nuclear weapon free world. After circulating an interim summary, the first draft of the final report of the subsidiary body was planned for 16 June. The work and dialogues had helped to reaffirm the commitment to achieving the objectives of a nuclear free world. Identifying actions to prevent a nuclear arms race came to continued and solid efforts to seek ways to speed up negotiations in the Conference. Tangible progress under agenda item one would then be able to be achieved.

Ambassador Soualem said he was looking forward to the active participation of all in the fourth plenary meeting, and reaffirmed willingness to exchange views with all delegations bilaterally.

CLAUDIA FUENTES JULIO, Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations Office at Geneva and coordinator of subsidiary body three on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, reaffirmed the conviction that outer space was a broad-ranging complex issue and was of increasing relevance. Space exploration, greater dependence on space, and the potential for the interference of space objects were new stages which involved challenges for the security of space. The task was to move forward in aspects where a convergence among delegations had been seen. Ms. Fuentes Julio was fully aware that the report must be a report of the Conference as a whole, and intended to produce a document which reflected the aspirations of all. Some procedural issues required clarification in the upcoming weeks, which would help to achieve substantive understanding of the report.

IGNACIO SÀNCHEZ DE LERÍN GARCÍA, Deputy Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Ambassador for Disarmament, and coordinator of subsidiary body two on the prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters, said three substantive meetings had been held, and some joint conclusions had been reached. Delegations had repeated their national positions which made it difficult to have a dialogue. There had been some progress on the issue of fissile materials. A draft report had been issued yesterday, with the delegations having until the end of the week to include their comments. From Tuesday next week, the delegations would be able to work on a clean text. If it was found that there were serious difficulties with parts of the text, this would be addressed. If there was no agreement, this would be challenging, as there was no room for additional meetings. It would have to be seen what procedural measures would be taken.

INDRA ROSANDRY, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations Office at Geneva and coordinator of subsidiary body four on effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons , said three sessions had been convened in which substantiative and deep discussion was held to reach consensus on the issue. There was an agreement on the importance of this issue, which was positive. The subsidiary body was finalising the draft which would serve as the basis for a report. The draft would be circulated before the fourth session, with ample time for consideration.

ALEKSANDER PYTALEV, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations Office at Geneva and coordinator of subsidiary body five on new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, radiological weapons, a comprehensive programme of disarmament and transparency in armaments , said two substantiative sessions had been held, therefore it was premature to share any questions relating to substantive parts of the report. The third meeting would be held later today, and the first draft of the report would be prepared, which would focus on the work carried out in the first three meetings. The report would be brief and factual, and would be circulated and discussed. Mr. Pytalev said he would look to include all comments from other States in the report, and would circulate a revised draft in June.

Ambassador TAE SONG HAN of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said the subsidiary bodies had started their work this year, but had already had experience in 2018, meaning this year’s work should be advanced.

Mexico said that the reports had elements which were factual. The five reports should have a similar way of being presented and should be in the same format. References of self-congratulatory nature should be excluded; only the facts should be included.

Democratic Republic of the Congo noted that there were 17 days to finalise the reports and adopt them during a plenary of the Conference. Perhaps the schedule could be modified, to allow the coordinators more time to present the reports?

Ambassador TAE SONG HAN of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, President of the Conference on Disarmament, said the draft reports could be presented to the plenary by the coordinators, through the presidency.

United Kingdom said that the time was tight as the reports of the subsidiary bodies needed to adopted in plenary by 1 July, to conclude the segment of work. It would be helpful if the incoming presidency could set out a timetable to achieve this.

France said the discussion on what should be done if there was no consensus was important. Would there be alternative discussions to reach a consensus?

Cuba said the process should be guided by the coordinators and Member States, without any politicisation, which would destroy the work of the subsidiary bodies and undermine the work of the Conference. All reports were interconnected, and all issues should be focused on; not just those of importance to some delegations. It would be beneficial for the reports to have similar structures and formats, but nothing was imposed on the coordinator to follow a pre-determined path. This meant the subsidiary bodies should adopt the reports on the basis of consensus, as per paragraph five. Cuba said nothing would be done after the fourth meeting of each subsidiary body, as that was the decision that was taken. If substantive progress could not be achieved, this should be reported to the Conference. There was no need to have a break in August; the Conference had time. There were two additional months to carry out the work of the Conference.

China said in August, there were equally important disarmament meetings, which was the reasoning for aiming to finish the work of the Conference on the subsidiary bodies by July. However, the work of the Conference should not be discontinued due to work in other places. If coordinators had not reached consensus on the reports after four meetings, the Member States would actively support the coordinators in discussions. It was important that the reports reflected the views of all sides; China’s views and positions had not been fully reflected in the report of subsidiary body one, and at the end of the report, the coordinator had tried to make a consensus proposal, to provide new ideas for the future work of the subsidiary body. China would participate in the discussion of subsidiary bodies in a constructive manner; however, the coordinators should exercise maximum inclusiveness, to provide equal respect to the views expressed by various delegations. If the reports could be completed by July, this would be the best result.

Ecuador noted the importance of the subsidiary bodies in helping to move the work of the Conference forward. The four weeks in August were vital to allow the Conference to achieve major progress in its work.

Russia supported that the coordinators worked closely with delegations on a bilateral and multilateral basis. An informal session of the subsidiary bodies should also be considered. Russia supported the call to complete the work of the subsidiary bodies by 1 July. However, it was more likely that the work would be completed after this time, and this should be considered. It was important for coordinators to step up their work and find agreement on the reports. Russia called on the President to hold consultations with interested States regarding their intentions and the questions raised during today’s plenary.

Ambassador TAE SONG HAN of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, President of the Conference on Disarmament , said the President would decide what happened if consensus was not reached after four sessions. Ambassador Han said the idea to have a discussion with all States after the four sessions was a good one and would be considered.

Syria said it was considering the reports of subsidiary bodies one and two, and looked forward to receiving the reports of the other subsidiary bodies. Syria looked forward to achieving positive results.

Pakistan said inputs to the report received would be sent across in the coming days. Reports for each body should follow the structure sent by each coordinator. The reports needed to be objective. While it had been agreed that four meetings would be taken to complete the work, Pakistan said informal consultations should be continued if required.

Netherlands recalled that in 2018, it had been possible to reach consensus on four out of five reports of the subsidiary bodies, which could be a way forward. Previously in 2018, none of the coordinators were able to finish work in the time allotted and continued to work outside the structured timetable. The Netherlands said a conclusion as soon as possible would be beneficial, but supported statements which said work should continue outside this time.

Ambassador TAE SONG HAN of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, President of the Conference on Disarmament , said that the previous experience of the Netherlands as a coordinator of a subsidiary body was important, and could be useful to further work.

Italy said the key objective of the subsidiary bodies was to make progress and contribute to a better understanding of the propositions of the Conference and build confidence. Regarding the timetable, there would need to be further discussions to determine what happened after the four meetings. Italy was concerned about the budget involved in convening informal meetings; decisions would need to be taken on this. The Conference needed to be guided by the subsidiary bodies. It would be logistically challenging to continue discussions in August.

United States said it was flexible on the structure of the reports. It was important to note that some of the coordinators themselves may not be present in August, which would present a challenge. There needed to be time to discuss the report of the Conference as well as reports of the subsidiary bodies.

Cuba said it was clear that the coordinators were appointed for the entire session of the Conference on Disarmament 2022. It did not say in the decision that the reports needed to approved. After the fourth meeting, the coordinator of each subsidiary body could present a report to the Conference for review. A plenary could then be convened for analysis, and it could be decided then if more time was required. Cuba shared the concerns about not changing what had been decided. There should be a single moment when all five reports would be adopted at the same time. It was important that all topics were given equal scope in the work of the Conference. The next President of the Conference should stipulate that all five reports would be reviewed together and maintain the balance which had been established.

India said maximum effort should be made to obtain consensus. However, the key question was whether more time could help to reach a consensus. Did more time improve the chances of arriving at a substantive report based on consensus? It was possible to obtain consensus by the end of June, but not necessarily feasible.

Russia said it was the view of their delegation that the work of the subsidiary bodies would be finished once their report had been completed. A coordinator could convene any informal meetings that they wished.

Iran agreed that the reports of the subsidiary bodies should be submitted to the Conference for adoption. There was a clear goal; when decisions were adopted to establish the subsidiary bodies, the reports should be comprehensive, balanced and reflect the views of all countries.

Cuba said the achievements needed to be decided within the subsidiary bodies; this was impossible to achieve in informal meetings. Cuba agreed that work needed to be finished as quickly as possible. When decisions were adopted, this was because the members of the Conference were in agreement. There was no list to see who was present in the room, and the title of the speaker was not asked. It was important to show political will and not apply a bureaucratic approach.

Ambassador TAE SONG HAN of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, President of the Conference on Disarmament, expressed thanks for all coordinators who had presented their work. Through their presentations, it could be known where they stood and what steps needed to be taken next to draft the reports of the subsidiary bodies. Ambassador Han thanked the delegates for their active and constructive discussions, which highlighted their seriousness about the work of the Conference on Disarmament. All delegations wished for the reports to be completed as soon as possible. Flexibility, compromise and political will were needed to achieve results. Ambassador Han thanked all the coordinators for their hard work and wished them success in their endeavours.

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