Statement by Mr. Hirofumi Nakasone, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Consensus on Commencement of Negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty

June 1, 2009
Japanese

At the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva on May 29 (Fri), a programme of work was adopted that included the decision to negotiate a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices (Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty). I welcome the announcement of the adoption of this programme of work, and would like to express my high estimation of the efforts made by the relevant countries including Algeria, who is serving as president to the conference.
Japan has consistently advocated the early commencement of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty to the international community. The “11 Benchmarks for Global Nuclear Disarmament” that I presented recently also stressed the importance of this.
As a result of this adoption, Japan strongly hopes that actual negotiations on the treaty will begin as swiftly as possible and that the CD will proceed with its work that has for long seen little progress.

(Reference 1) Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty

This treaty aims to halt the nuclear programs of the nuclear-weapon states and non-States Parties of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (India, Pakistan, and Israel). It is considered that this treaty prohibits the production of highly-enriched uranium and plutonium for the research, manufacturing, or use of explosive devices.

(Reference 2) Conference on Disarmament (CD)

Conference on Disarmament is the only multilateral disarmament negotiating forum (with sixty-five member states), but it has engaged in no substantial negotiations or discussions since the negotiations on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) of 1996. On May 19, a programme of work (CD/1863) was proposed by Algeria, one of the conference’s presidents. This programme of work includes negotiations on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty and substantive discussions regarding Prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS). Discussions were held to gain a consensus for this programme of work.
A consensus was gained, and CD plans to hold consultations regarding the schedule and other matters.

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