Press Release
GA/DIS/3194
DRAFT RESOLUTION ON 'PATH TO TOTAL ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS' APPROVED BY FIRST COMMITTEE, AS IT CONCLUDES CURRENT SESSION
20001101Also Approves Texts on Middle East Nuclear Proliferation, Fissile Material, Arms Register, Regional Disarmament, Small Arms
The General Assembly would stress the central importance of taking practical steps to implement the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), including early signature and ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by all States, as well as a moratorium on nuclear-weapon-test explosions or any other explosions pending its entry into force, according to a draft resolution entitled "a path to the total elimination of nuclear weapons", which was one of six texts approved this afternoon by the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), as it concluded its work for the current session.
A further provision of the text, approved by a recorded vote of 144 in favour to 1 against (India), with 12 abstentions, would have the Assembly reaffirm the importance of achieving the universality of the Treaty and call upon States not parties to the Treaty to accede to it as non-nuclear-weapon States without delay and without conditions. (For details of the vote, see Annex II).
Prior to acting on the text, the Committee approved operative paragraph 8, which calls upon all States to redouble their efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery, confirming and strengthening, if necessary, their policies not to transfer equipment, materials or technology that could contribute to the proliferation of those weapons. The provision was approved by a vote of 137 in favour to 2 against (Egypt, Pakistan), with 11 abstentions. (For details, see Annex I).
Under a draft resolution on the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, the General Assembly would reaffirm the importance of Israel's accession to the NPT and placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, in order to realize the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East. The Assembly would also call upon that State to accede to the NPT without further delay and not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, and to renounce
First Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/DIS/3194 28th Meeting (PM) 1 November 2000
possession of nuclear weapons and to place all its unsafeguarded nuclear facilities under full-scope IAEA safeguards. The draft was approved by a vote of 139 in favour to 3 against (Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, United States) with 7 abstentions (Australia, Canada, India, Marshall Islands, Singapore, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago) (see Annex IX).
Prior to voting on the draft resolution as a whole, the Committee took a separate decision on preambular paragraph 6, which recognizes with satisfaction that, in the final document of the 2000 NPT Review Conference, the Conference undertakes to make determined efforts towards the achievement of the goal of universality of the Treaty, and calls upon those remaining States not party to it to accede to it, thereby accepting an internationally legally binding commitment not to acquire nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices and to accept IAEA safeguards on all their nuclear activities. The paragraph was approved by a vote of 138 in favour to 2 against (India, Israel), with 5 abstentions (Bhutan, Cuba, Marshall Islands, Pakistan, Tonga) (see Annex VIII).
A third nuclear weapons draft, approved without a vote, would have the Assembly recall the decision of the Conference on Disarmament to establish a committee to negotiate a fissile material cut-off treaty, and urge the Conference to agree on a programme of work which included the immediate commencement of negotiations on such a treaty.
A draft text on transparency in armaments would have the Assembly call upon Member States, with a view to achieving universal participation in the Register of Conventional Arms, to provide the Secretary-General by 31 May annually the requested data and information for the Register, including nil reports if appropriate. The Assembly would reaffirm its decision, with a view to further the Register's development, to keep the scope of and participation of the Register under review. The draft was approved by a recorded vote of 133 in favour to none against, with 17 abstentions. (See Annex VII.)
Before taking a decision on the draft as a whole, four separate votes were taken on the fifth preambular paragraph, and operative paragraphs 2, 5(b) and 7. The fifth preambular paragraph, approved by a vote of 134 in favour to 2 against (Egypt, Syria), with 12 abstentions, would have the Assembly welcome the note by the Secretary-General on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development. (Annex III)
Operative paragraph 2, by which the Assembly would endorse the report of the Secretary-General on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development and the recommendations contained therein, was approved by a vote of 136 in favour to 3 against (Egypt, Lebanon, Syria), with 11 abstentions (see Annex IV).
By the terms of operative paragraph 5(b), the Assembly would request the Secretary-General, with the assistance of a group of governmental experts to be convened in 2003, to prepare a report on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development, taking into account work of the Conference on Disarmament, with the views expressed by Member States and the reports of the
First Committee - 1b - Press Release GA/DIS/3194 28th Meeting (PM) 1 November 2000
Secretary-General on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development, with a view to a decision at its fifty-eighth session. The Committee approved that provision by a vote of 135 in favour to 3 against (Egypt, Lebanon, Syria) with 12 abstentions. (See Annex V.)
Operative paragraph 7, approved by a vote of 132 in favour to none against, with 16 abstentions, would have the Assembly invite the Conference on Disarmament to consider continuing its work undertaken in the field of transparency in armaments. (See Annex VI.)
Acting without a vote, the Committee approved a text on regional disarmament by which the Assembly would affirm that global and regional approaches to disarmament complemented each other and should, therefore, be pursued simultaneously to promote regional and international peace and security. In that context, the Assembly would call upon States to conclude agreements, wherever possible, for nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and confidence- building measures at the regional and subregional levels.
A revised draft resolution on assistance to States for curbing illicit traffic in small arms and collecting them, also approved without a vote, would have the Assembly encourage the setting up in the countries in the Saharo- Sahelian subregion of national commissions against the proliferation of small arms, and invite the international community to support as far as possible the smooth functioning of the national commissions where they have been set up.
A revised draft text entitled regional disarmament and non-proliferation was withdrawn by its sponsor, the representative of Belarus. He said the text, for which he had sought the support of the entire international community for the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones, had become an issue of political prejudice for some countries of his region, which, only yesterday, had voted in favour of drafts seeking to consolidate or create such zones.
The representative of Cameroon withdrew the amendment to that regional disarmament text.
In his concluding remarks, the Committee Chairman, Mya Than (Myanmar), said that this year the Committee had addressed a balanced set of issues. Nuclear and space issues, as well as small arms and other conventional arms control, such as anti-personnel mines and transparency in disarmament, were extensively covered. The most urgent message that rang out from this year's deliberations and resolutions was the imperative to overcome, in 2001, the current impasse in the Conference on Disarmament and to immediately start negotiations on a fissile materials cut-off treaty.
The Committee Secretary, Lin Kuo-Chung, also made a closing statement, in recognition of his approaching retirement in March 2001
Expressions of appreciation for the Committee's work were made by representatives of the following regional groups: Mauritania on behalf of the Group of African States; South Africa on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement;
First Committee - 1c - Press Release GA/DIS/3194 28th Meeting (PM) 1 November 2000
Slovenia on behalf of the Eastern European States; Germany on behalf of the Western European and Other States; France on behalf of the European Union; Kyrgyzstan on behalf of the Asian States; Brazil on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean States; and Libya on behalf of the Arab States.
An introduction of the revised draft resolution on the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East was made by the representative of Egypt.
Statements were also made by the representatives of Syria, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, United Kingdom, France (on behalf of the European Union), Iran, Russian Federation, Algeria, Israel, Japan, Libya (on behalf of the Arab States), Mexico, Oman, Cuba, Myanmar, Iraq, United States, India, and Norway.
The Committee will meet again at a date and time to be announced.
First Committee - 3 - Press Release GA/DIS/3194 28th Meeting (PM) 1 November 2000
Committee Work Programme
The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met this afternoon to conclude the third stage of its work, namely action on disarmament and security-related draft resolutions. It had before it three revised drafts on nuclear weapons, one on conventional weapons, two on regional disarmament, including one amendment, and another on transparency in armaments.
[Summary of the drafts to be acted upon this afternoon appear below in voting sequence.]
A revised draft text sponsored by Japan on a path to total elimination of nuclear weapons (document A/C.1/55/L.39/Rev.1) would have the Assembly reaffirm the importance of achieving the universality of the NPT and call upon States not party to the NPT to accede to it as non-nuclear-weapon States without delay and without conditions.
Under the text, the Assembly would reaffirm the importance for all States parties to the NPT to fulfil their obligations under the Treaty. It would stress the central importance of taking the practical steps for the systematic and progressive efforts to implement article VI of the NPT and paragraphs 3 and 4(c) of the 1995 decision on "Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non- Proliferation and Disarmament".
[Article VI concerns the obligations of all parties to the Treaty to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.
Paragraph 3 of the 1995 Decision on "Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament" refers to the achievement of nuclear disarmament and a reaffirmation by the nuclear-weapon States to pursue in good faith negotiations on effective measures relating to nuclear disarmament. Paragraph 4(c) refers to the determined pursuit by the nuclear-weapon States of systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the ultimate goal of the elimination of those weapons, and by all States of general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.]
Under the draft, the practical steps towards implementation of those commitments include: early signature and ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by all States, especially by those States whose ratification is required for its entry into force, with a view to its early entry into force before 2003, as well as a moratorium on nuclear-weapon-test explosions or any other nuclear explosions pending its entry into force; and immediate commencement of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament, and their conclusion as early as possible before 2005, of a non-discriminatory, multilateral, and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
The Assembly would further call upon States to redouble efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery, confirming and strengthening, if necessary, their policies not to transfer equipment, materials or technology that could contribute to the proliferation of those weapons.
A new operative paragraph 9 would replace the call for unilateral and cooperative efforts to prevent weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, from falling into the hands of non-State actors with a call upon all States to maintain the highest possible standards of security, safe custody, effective control and physical protection of all materials that could contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
According to a revised draft resolution sponsored by Canada on the 1998 decision of the Conference on Disarmament to establish a committee to negotiate a fissile material cut-off treaty (document A/C.1/55/L.49/Rev. 1), the Assembly would recall that decision and urge the Conference to agree on a programme of work which included the immediate commencement of negotiations on such a treaty.
A revised draft resolution on assistance to States for curbing illicit traffic in small arms and collecting them (document A/C.1/55/L.11/Rev.2) would have the General Assembly encourage the setting up, in the countries in the Saharo-Sahelian subregion, of national commissions against the proliferation of small arms, and invite the international community to support as far as possible the smooth functioning of the national commissions where they have been set up.
By further terms of the draft resolution, the Assembly would welcome the Declaration of a Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa, adopted by the heads of State and government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at Abuja on 31 October 1998, and urge the international community to give its support to the implementation of the moratorium. It would also recommend the involvement of organizations and associations of civil society in efforts to combat the proliferation of small arms in the context of the national commissions and their participation in the implementation of the moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of small arms.
It would express its full support for the appeal launched by the Assembly of heads of State and government of the Organization of African Unity at its thirty-fifth session for a coordinated African approach, under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), to the problems posed by the illicit proliferation and circulation of and traffic in small arms, bearing in mind the experiences of the various regions. It would also express its full support for the convening of an international conference on the illicit arms trade in all its aspects no later than 2001.
The Assembly would also express its full support for the convening of a United Nations conference on the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects in June/July 2001, in accordance with the General Assembly resolution 54/54 J of 15 December 1999. The draft resolution is sponsored by Austria, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liberia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Portugal, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Republic of Moldova and the United Kingdom.
A draft text on regional disarmament (document A/C.1/55/L.34) would have the Assembly affirm that global and regional approaches to disarmament complemented each other and should, therefore, be pursued simultaneously to promote regional and international peace and security. In that context, the Assembly would call upon States to conclude agreements, wherever possible, for nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and confidence-building measures at the regional and subregional levels.
In a related provision, the Assembly would stress that sustained efforts were needed, within the framework of the Conference on Disarmament and under the umbrella of the United Nations, to make progress on the entire range of disarmament issues. It would welcome the initiatives towards disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and security undertaken by some countries at the regional and subregional levels, and support and encourage efforts aimed at promoting confidence-building measures at the regional and subregional levels in order to ease regional tensions and further disarmament and nuclear non- proliferation measures at those levels.
The draft resolution is sponsored by Bangladesh, Egypt, Fiji, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia and Turkey.
A draft amendment submitted by Cameroon (document A/C.1/55/L.53) to the draft on regional disarmament would add new paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 as follows, respectively:
"Requests all States to communicate to the Secretary-General information on disarmament efforts and initiatives as well as establishment of confidence- building measures carried out at regional and subregional levels";
"Invites the Secretary-General to assist the subregional and regional organizations in the implementation and the strengthening of regional disarmament initiatives as well as in the establishment of confidence-building measures";
"Requests the Secretary-General to report at its fifty-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution".
Under the terms of a revised draft resolution sponsored by Belarus on regional disarmament (document A/C.1/55/L.46/Rev.1) the Assembly would welcome and support the steps taken to conclude further nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties, and reaffirm the conviction that the establishment of internationally recognized nuclear-weapon-free zones on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned, enhances global regional peace and security, strengthens the nuclear non-proliferation regime and contributes towards realizing the objectives of nuclear disarmament.
The Assembly would also believe that the international community should continue to promote the establishment of new nuclear-weapon-free zones in accordance with the relevant guidelines of the United Nations Disarmament Commission, and in that spirit welcomes the efforts and proposals that have been advanced by the States in various regions of the world.
A draft text on transparency in armaments (document A/C.1/55/L.43) would have the Assembly call upon Member States, with a view to achieving universal participation in the Register of Conventional Arms, to provide the Secretary- General by 31 May annually the requested data and information for the Register, including nil reports if appropriate. The Assembly would reaffirm its decision with a view to further the Register's development, to keep the scope of and participation of the Register under review.
Towards that goal, the Assembly would recall its request to Member States to provide the Secretary-General with their views on the Register's continuing operation and its further development, and on transparency measures related to weapons of mass destruction. It would also request the Secretary-General, with the assistance of a group of governmental experts to be convened in 2003, on the basis of equitable geographical representation, to prepare a report on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development, with a view to a decision at its fifty-eight session.
The draft resolution is sponsored Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland and Israel.
Also, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation; Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tonga, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
A revised draft text sponsored by Egypt on the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East (document A/C.1/55/L.29/Rev.1) would have the Assembly reaffirm the importance of Israel's accession to the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, in realizing the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East.
The Assembly would call upon that State to accede to the Treaty without further delay and not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, and to renounce possession of nuclear weapons, and to place all its unsafeguarded nuclear facilities under full-scope IAEA safeguards as an important confidence-building measure among all States of the region and as a step towards enhancing peace and security. It would ask the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its next session on the implementation of the present resolution.
The revised text adds a new operative paragraph 1, by which the Assembly would welcome the conclusions on the Middle East of the 2000 NPT Review Conference.
Action on Texts
The Committee first took up the draft resolution on a path to the total elimination of nuclear weapons (document A/C.1/55/L.39/Rev.1).
The representative of France said that the French translation of document A/C.1/55/L.31 was still not satisfactory.
Speaking before the vote, the representative of Egypt said that operative paragraph 8 of the draft resolution stressed the need to strengthen policies relating to the control of exports and technologies of delivery in a way that consolidated the discriminatory treatment of nuclear non-proliferation. It did not take into account the comprehensive nature of the outcome of the NPT Review Conference. The issue of nuclear non-proliferation should be based on a non- discriminatory approach and must address the question in all its aspects, without being exclusive in any way. His country would, therefore, vote against the paragraph.
The representative of Syria said that his delegation had drawn the attention of the co-sponsors of the draft resolution to the fact that the Arabic translation of operative paragraph 8 of the text did not reflect the corresponding English text. That translation had not been rendered accurately. The text should be accurate, so as to reflect the full meaning contained in original text.
The representative of Indonesia said that operative paragraph 8 was important and reflected important issues and developments. His country had long supported collective international efforts towards nuclear disarmament. It underscored the importance of the need for all States parties to honour their NPT obligations. That goal could not be met through discriminatory approaches or regimes of denial. Indonesia would, therefore, abstain in the vote on that paragraph but will vote in favour of the draft resolution as a whole.
The Committee then proceeded to vote on operative paragraph 8,which reads: "Calls upon all States to redouble their efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery, confirming and strengthening, if necessary, their policies not to transfer equipment, materials or technology that could contribute to the proliferation of those weapons;"
Operative paragraph 8 of the draft resolution on a path to the total elimination of nuclear weapons (document A/C.1/55/L.39/Rev.1) was approved by a vote of 137 in favour to 2 against (Pakistan, Egypt), with 11 abstentions. (For details of the vote, see Annex I.)
The Committee then approved the draft resolution on a path to the total elimination of nuclear weapons (document A/C.1/55/L.39/Rev.1) by a vote of 144 in favour to 1 against (India), with 12 abstentions. (See Annex II).
Speaking after the vote, the representative of China said that his country supported the main objectives of the draft resolution, noting that it quoted relevant wordings of the final document of the last NPT Review Conference. The text, however, had certain inadequacies. It failed to mention certain main principles and measures that were indispensable for nuclear disarmament and non- proliferation, such as the responsibility of those countries who had the biggest and most advanced arsenals to engage in disarmament and the need to abandon the deterrence strategy.
The text also provided for the cut-off of the treaty negotiations by 2005, he said. That was different from the wording of the NPT document. Those negotiations were directly related to the prevailing international security environment. Artificial deadlines were unreasonable and unrealistic. China did not agree with the formulation of the report of the Tokyo Forum. Many of the contents of that Forum were impractical and unreasonable. Based on those positions, China had abstained in the vote.
The representative of Pakistan said that several provisions of the draft resolution were unacceptable. His country was totally against operative paragraph 8. It could also not endorse the provisions of most of operative paragraph 3. As a non-party to the NPT, it did not construe itself to be under any obligation contained in that paragraph. That was why his country was able to abstain, rather than vote against the draft resolution.
The representative of the United Kingdom said that, in explanation of the vote this morning on the draft resolution on a new agenda (document A/C.1/55/L.4/Rev.1), he had set out his country's approach to the draft resolutions on nuclear disarmament that were before the Committee. He would merely state now that the same considerations had applied to his approach to the present text, which had his support.
The representative of France said that in past years the Japanese delegation had taken a pragmatic approach to nuclear disarmament through the submission of its text. Today, any resolution on nuclear disarmament must faithfully reflect the balances achieved at the 2000 NPT Review Conference, but the text presented today only partially complied with that requirement, in both the preambular and operative portions. He deplored the selective use of quotations from the final document, which had applied to two essential points: treatment of the question of the unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon States to accomplish the elimination of their nuclear arsenals; and the lack of an explicit reference to general and complete disarmament in operative paragraph 3.
He said that on those fundamental and inseparable themes, the draft presented by Japan had departed markedly from the consensus achieved in New York last May. The present text was an interpretation of the 2000 Review Conference final document and article VI of the NPT, as well as the decisions taken in that regard in 1995. Thus, while fully committed to discharging all of its disarmament and arms proliferation commitments, he was, nevertheless, compelled to abstain in the vote.
The representative of Egypt said he had abstained in the vote, although he fully supported the resolution and associated himself with its objectives and noble goals. Indeed, the objective was to rid the world of nuclear weapons. He was, however, opposed to operative paragraph 8 and that had prevented him from voting in favour of the draft as a whole. He thanked the Japanese delegation for attempting to take the concerns of interested States into account. He hoped, the language of the text next year would allow for his support.
The representative of Iran said he appreciated the efforts made by the Japanese delegation in presenting a more streamlined text this year on nuclear disarmament. The text had identified effective measures of nuclear disarmament and had reflected much of the language of the final document of the 2000 NPT Review Conference, which had strengthened the resolution. He, therefore, voted in favour of the draft. He had abstained in the vote on operative paragraph 8, which had not reflected the balanced outcome of the NPT discussions. He was persuaded by the positive inclination shown by the representative of Japan, which had been evident in his introduction of the revised text yesterday. A paragraph might be introduced next year based on the agreed language of the NPT review, which could be supported by all.
The representative of the Russian Federation had positively assessed the efforts of the text's co-sponsors in the draft's preparation and had noted the important fact that the measures on nuclear disarmament were reproduced from the final document of the 2000 NPT Review. He had been ready to support many of the measures contained in the draft. At the same time, however, the sponsors had selectively cited provisions from the final document which violated the fragile balance of interests achieved with enormous effort during the Review Conference. Thus, his delegation had abstained in the vote. Meanwhile, all countries should focus on implementing the decision of the NPT Review. One part of the final document could not be considered more important than any other part. It would, therefore, be hasty to support only part of those decisions while ignoring the others. He was ready to constructively cooperate in implementing the objectives enshrined in the final document.
The representative of Algeria said he supported the draft because it was useful and important and had referred to a number of gains made during the NPT Review Conference. The Japanese delegation had made great efforts to change the wording, yet the language of operative paragraph 8 was ambiguous, leading him to abstain in the vote. Hopefully, the Japanese delegation would make additional efforts during the next to enable the draft to obtain the widest support possible.
The Committee took up the draft resolution on a fissile material cut-off treaty (document A/C.1/55/L.49/Rev.1).
The representative of Pakistan said that his country agreed with the thrust of the draft resolution and would be happy to join in its adoption without a vote. It was in line with the policies of his Government.
The Secretary of the Committee announced that the following countries had joined as co-sponsors of the draft resolution: Sweden, Myanmar, Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Greece, Grenada, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Belgium, Senegal, Mali and Guatemala.
The Committee then approved the draft resolution on the 1998 decision of the Conference on Disarmament to establish a committee to negotiate a fissile material cut-off treaty (document A/C.1/55/L.49/Rev. 1) without a vote.
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