13 February 1997

JAPAN

Proposal to appoint a Special Coordinator on Nuclear Disarmament

　

　

　 The Conference on Disarmament appoints a Special Coordinator to conduct consultations with its members to identify the issue/s in the field of nuclear disarmament which could be negotiated in the Conference and to report to the Conference on the result of these consultations no later than the conclusion of the 1997 session.

　

　

EXPLANATORY NOTES:

　

l. Japan considers the issue of nuclear disarmament to be a high priority for the Conference on Disarmament.

　

2. While the Conference may not necessarily take up every aspect of nuclear disarmament, it is clear that there exist appropriate issues in the field of nuclear disarmament to be negotiated in the Conference.

　

3. The Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty negotiations should commence immediately as the next item for negotiations in the Conference.

　

4. In addition to the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, the Conference should identify the issue/s of nuclear disarmament to be negotiated in the future. Unfortunately the basic lines of thought for dealing with nuclear disarmament have continued to be divergent. Likewise, a convergence of views on the forum, or mechanism, in which to identify the issue has not yet evolved.

　

5. Under such circumstances, it is most practical for the Conference to have as flexible a mechanism as possible, in order to identify the issues for future negotiation/s. In this regard, a special coordinator can have bilateral, multilateral or any other form of consultations and discussions, and, thus, can provide an appropriate forum for nuclear disarmament talks in the Conference.

　

6. The Conference should not further delay addressing the issue of nuclear disarmament. On the contrary, the Conference should start its first step, even if a modest one, to explore various possibilities for nuclear disarmament negotiations.