CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ADOPTS AGENDA FOR 1997

Press Release
DCF/287

CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ADOPTS AGENDA FOR 1997

GENEVA, 14 February (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament adopted its agenda for the year this morning, some three and a half weeks after its 1997 session was gaveled open on 21 January.

The agenda, tabled in draft by Conference President Joun Yung Sun (Republic of Korea) on Thursday and discussed the rest of the day in private session and again this morning, lists eight items for consideration by the Conference: 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 nuclear weapons; new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, including radiological weapons; a comprehensive programme of disarmament; transparency in armaments; and consideration and adoption of the annual report and any other report, as appropriate.

Mr. Sun, after pronouncing adoption of the document, said it was his understanding that if there was consensus in the Conference to deal with any other issues, they could be considered under the agenda.

In a formal statement on completion of his term in the rotating presidency of the Conference, Mr. Sun said he was pleased that the group had been able to adopt an agenda at the "eleventh hour" of his tenure. He added that there was much work still to be done, including establishment of a work programme for the year.

In his view, he continued, the three sessions of the open-ended informal Presidential consultations devoted to such issues as nuclear disarmament, a fissile-material cut-off treaty, and anti-personnel land mines, had been useful and had helped the Conference move forward. The President's job was to leave no stone unturned in pursuit of the common ground shared by all members of the Conference for starting negotiations on agreed issues, and no efforts had been spared on his part.

The next plenary meeting of the Conference is scheduled for Thursday, 20 February.

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