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[EXCERPTS]
24 January 1997 Press Release DCF/283
DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE HEARS FURTHER CALLS FOR BANS ON LAND-MINES AND FISSILE MATERIALS, ESTABLISHMENT OF NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

Members Continue Consultations to Agree on Agenda

GENEVA, 23 January (UN Information Service) -- France and Germany called on the Conference on Disarmament this morning to immediately begin negotiations on treaties to ban the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons and anti-personnel land-mines.

Speaking as the Conference continued to work to reach an agreement on an agenda for this session, the representative of France said the opinions of different groups on the work programme were not irreconcilable. The General Assembly, in 1993, had decided unanimously upon the negotiation, within an appropriate time-frame, of a non-discriminatory, multilateral, internationally efficiently verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear arms use, or "cut-off", she added.

JOËLLE BOURGOIS (France) said the Conference was as at a crossroads. The opinions of different groups on the work programme were not irreconcilable; the General Assembly, in 1993, had decided unanimously upon the negotiation, within an appropriate time-frame, of a non-discriminatory, multilateral, internationally efficiently verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear arms use. France was no longer producing fissile materials for arms production and had made a unique effort in the field of nuclear disarmament; it invited other countries to follow suit.

Only a treaty on "cut off" negotiated by the Conference on Disarmament could guarantee a universal character, putting an end to all possibility of resuming quantitative developments in the nuclear arms race, while the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) would halt qualitative development, she said. France would make every effort to start negotiations soon and to reach an early conclusion of that treaty; but problems would arise if the Conference established an ad hoc committee on all questions related to nuclear armament. The Conference should not duplicate the discussions at the Assembly's First Committee (Disarmament and International Security). There was a clear logic in attempting to make the ban on fissile materials the second multilateral negotiation on disarmament and non-proliferation after the CTBT.

WOLFGANG HOFFMANN (Germany) said the next step for negotiations should be a "cut-off" of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The objective of such a multilateral and effectively verifiable cut-off treaty would be to cap the amount of fissile material available for nuclear weapons. Such a treaty would be a necessary complement to the CTBT.

MOUNIR ZAHRAN (Egypt) said the issue of nuclear disarmament had been on the disarmament agenda for several decades now, yet nuclear-weapon States had yet to commit themselves to a time-bound framework for nuclear disarmament, the will of the overwhelming majority of the members of the international community notwithstanding. Such a stance would seem to indicate that countries possessing nuclear weapons were still considering that those weapons had a role to play in international relations.

A ban on the production of fissile materials, or "cut-off", which left out past production, commonly referred to as stockpiles, would be a half measure of non-proliferation and would stop short of being another step towards nuclear disarmament, he added. On that basis, a "cut-off" convention could be negotiated in a nuclear disarmament ad hoc committee which the Group of 21 non-aligned countries had called for within the Conference.

IFTEKHAR CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said nuclear disarmament, and the proposal to establish an ad hoc committee for negotiations on that subject, were unambiguous priorities for the Group of 21. Bangladesh's commitment was demonstrated by its signature of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the CTBT despite the obvious shortcoming of the treaties. His delegation would cooperate in every possible manner to achieve a consensus on the Conference's work programme for the session.