Statement by H.E.Dr. Kuniko INOGUCHI

Permanent Representative of Japan

to the Conference on Disarmament

And

Head of the Japanese Delegation

At the 2003 Session of

United Nations Disarmament Commission

United Nations, New York

31 March 2003

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

At the outset, let me congratulate you most warmly on your assumption of the chairmanship of the 2003 United Nations Disarmament Commission. Our greetings are also extended to the distinguished members of the Bureau.

This year’s session, under your presidency, is extremely important because we must conclude discussion of this three-year cycle and reach a consensus on guidelines on substantive matters. I can assure you, Mr. Chairman, that you will have my delegation’s full support and co-operation toward the successful outcome of this session. We highly appreciate the efforts made by the Chairpersons of the two Working Groups who produced the working paper on nuclear disarmament and CBMs of conventional weapons and we do hope that we are able to successfully adopt a final document by consensus, following fruitful deliberations.

Mr. Chairman,

In relation to the agenda of UNDC, in other words, “Ways and Means to Achieve Nuclear Disarmament” and “Practical confidence-building Measures in the field of conventional Weapons”, allow me to state my delegation’s views and basic position on Nuclear Disarmament and Conventional weapons.

(Nuclear disarmament)

It is the fervent wish of Japan, as the only affected country to have experienced devastation caused by nuclear bombs, to see the realisation of a peaceful, safe, nuclear-weapon-free world as well as the elimination of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). We believe that the most effective way to achieve this goal is through practical and concrete steps in nuclear disarmament, which the State parties to the NPT agreed to in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference. Therefore, at the UN General Assembly, we submitted a resolution entitled “A path to the total elimination of nuclear weapons” which requested member States to implement the 13 practical steps, including moratorium on the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. The adoption of this resolution with overwhelming support, including that of 3 nuclear-weapon-States has clearly proven to the world that the entire international community is as earnest as it has ever been in its desire for nuclear disarmament. In this view, let me put forward several the basic thoughts of my government regarding nuclear disarmament.

(Bilateral and Unilateral Disarmament)

Firstly, in the process of nuclear disarmament, it is significant that the United States’ Senate ratified the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions between Russia and the US, and its Russian ratification is also greatly anticipated. We earnestly hope for early entry force of this treaty and its steady implementation by both the US and Russia. We also welcome unilateral nuclear disarmament measures taken by France and the United Kingdom. We urge all nuclear-weapon States to further reduce their nuclear arsenals as well as opposing their accumulation.

(NPT)

Secondly, Japan considers that maintenance and strengthening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime is essential in achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world. I believe that the legitimacy of the NPT has still been maintained, despite the fact that continuation of nuclear activities not under IAEA Safeguards and severe challenge to the NPT regime by non-compliance cases as well as by States outside the Treaty. We have been particularly encouraged by the acceding to the NPT of Cuba and the effort by East Timor who is expected to follow suit shortly.

(Non-compliance of the NPT)

With regard to non-compliance with the NPT regime, the international community is facing serious problems regarding Iraq and DPRK. Japan, in particular, is gravely concerned over recent steps taken by DPRK, especially with regard to peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. UNDC is not the forum to deal with a solution to this problem, however, I would like to briefly touch on the position of my government. It is the fervent wish of Japan that this problem will be resolved peacefully. It is of critical importance for regional as well as global peace and security that DPRK will fully comply with the NPT, freeze its nuclear facilities and take prompt action to dismantle its nuclear development programme. Japan also strongly hopes that DPRK will take the resolution adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors on 12 February seriously and cooperate urgently and fully with the IAEA. Japan would like to encourage countries concerned to take a forthcoming initiative on this matter and work together towards a peaceful solution.

(CTBT)

In order to strengthen the NPT regime, concrete and practical steps must be taken. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a milestone instrument among such steps. It is, however, truly regrettable that this Treaty has not yet come into force more than six years after its adoption at the UN General Assembly in September 1996. Japan would like to continue to urge those States which have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Treaty. One such example is the joint statement of 18 foreign ministers, including the foreign minister of Japan, issued last September in New York. Japan is also engaging in consultations with States signatories to facilitate their ratification processes in Vienna. Pending entry into force of the Treaty, however, the moratoria on “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion” should continue to be observed by all States concerned.

(CD)

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) should resolve its impasse on its Programme of work. It is extremely disappointing that the CD has neither commenced negotiations on a treaty to ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons, nor has it established an ad hoc committee to deal with nuclear disarmament. I strongly believe that it is high time for CD member States to overcome their differences relating to mandates and resume their substantive work toward the common objective of strengthening international security through multilateral disarmament.

(FMCT)

Japan places the highest priority on the commencement of negotiations on FMCT. Pending the agreement on a Programme of work, Japan is interested in working on two tracks.

One is to keep momentum and maintain technical expertise by encouraging education and public awareness on this issue outside the CD. With this aim, Japan organised the seminar entitled “Promoting Verification in Multilateral Arms Control Treaties” jointly with Australia and UNNIDIR in Geneva last week. We would also like to show our appreciation to the Dutch delegation for the initiatives it has taken on FMCT.

The other is to activate substantive discussion on FMCT in the CD plenary meeting, and I made a substantive speech on FMCT on 20^th February. Certainly these discussions will not constitute negotiations, however, they will prepare delegations to begin negotiations rapidly once a programme of work is agreed upon.

(IAEA)

Japan also attaches great importance to the universalisation of the Additional Protocol of the IAEA Safeguards. For this purpose, it organised “the International conference on Wider Adherence to strengthened IAEA safeguards” in Tokyo in December 2002, which reaffirmed the importance of universalisation of the Additional Protocol.

(Some comments on the Working Paper)

I would now like to outline our main comments concerning the Working Paper.

　　　　Firstly, in chapter IV of the Working Paper, concrete ways and means of achieving nuclear disarmament, derived from the 13 practical steps agreed to in the 2000 NPT Review Conference, are outlined. We should make use of this set of steps, which, I believe, enjoys broad support among UN member states, as a viable path to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Secondly, as for the SSOD IV, we should carefully follow discussions in the working group, keeping in mind that a realistic approach needs to be adopted towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Thirdly, with respect to the idea of an international conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers, the Report of the Secretary-General, “Reducing nuclear danger” (A/57/401) concludes that such an idea is “not yet ripe for the consideration of interim measures leading up to the convening of an international conference”. My government is of a similar view that the idea may well be pursued under a more favorable environment than current one.

(Conventional arms)

I would now like to present our general views on conventional arms.

It would be of great benefit if the international community were able to produce a set of guidelines on CBMs in the field of conventional arms in the form of a UN document, and I look forward to concrete results being produced from these UNDC discussions.

One of this year’s most important events in the field of conventional arms is the First UN biennial meeting on Small Arms and Light Weapons, which will commence on 7 July. As chair-designate of that meeting, I am making every possible effort to make this meeting a success and also the lead up to this meeting a robust multilateral UN process. Despite the fact that the situation of small arms and light weapons around the world is still very grave, in this connection I would like to draw your attention to 3 points:

Firstly please submit your national reports on the implementation of the PoA well in advance of the Meeting so that sufficient time can be given for necessary preparation.

Secondly, I would like to encourage you and your government officials to speak of the significance of small arms disarmament in relevant speeches and statements so as to make this issue a priority in the field of disarmament.

Thirdly, I would like to point out that mass media can also play a significant role in increasing publicity on the issue of SALW and on the importance of the forthcoming Biennial Meeting.

In 1991, based on the UN General Assembly’s resolution, the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (1991) was established. It is hoped that this Register will enhance transparency measures related to conventional weapons information and help to build confidence among the member States. In this connection we are please to hear some voices from the Group of Governmental Experts on the UN register of Conventional weapons, proposing such ideas as the inclusion of small arms and light weapons, review of the categories and broadening of the scope.

With respect to CBMs of conventional weapons, we look forward to a conclusion resulting from the working group in order to enhance information exchange on CBMs. Various ideas have surfaced to date, including the establishment of a website showing information provided on a voluntary basis by Member States, the organisation of workshops and seminars, the establishment of an informal forum in the margin of the First Committee and the research by UNIDIR. These ideas merit consideration.

Furthermore, I would like to emphasise another important point - that in the mid- to long-term, the actual design stage of CBM’s should also incorporate awareness-raising of the need for “reconciliation”. I do believe that it is important to design disarmament policies and programmes in a way that could help craft reconciliation among conflicting parties. Today, the world is full of deep-rooted conflicts. We therefore need to induce reconciliation in order to ascertain the irreversibility of disarmament achievement to date.

(Concluding remarks)

It is not an easy task to produce a universal result in a multilateral framework and we should not be excessively ambitious. However, to date the UNDC has provided positive results in the field of practical disarmament and nuclear weapon-free zones, and I sincerely hope that we are able to reach a significant conclusion once again this time. It is my strong desire that all participating States work together in order to achieve a successful outcome.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.