Items-In-Disarmament - Committee on Disarmament
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UN Secretariat Item Scan - Barcode - Record Title Page 53 Dafe 07/06/2006 Time 11:35:57 AM S-0905-0004-07-00001 Expanded Number S-0905-0004-07-00001 items-in-Disarmament - Committee on Disarmament Date Created 26/06/1978 Record Type Archival Item Container s-0905-0004: Political matters - disarmament 1972-1981 Print Name of Person Submit Image Signature of Person Submit U NITED NATIONS WStii NATIONS U , /U- INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM MEMORANDUM INTERIEUR I TO. The Secretary- 7 December 1979 A: Mr. P.K. Banerj^e, Officer-£n-charge REFERENCE: THROUGH: S/C DE: Department of Political and Security Council Affairs FROM: Jan Martenson, Assistant Secretary-General DE: Centre for Disarmament Visit bv the Deputy Permanent Representative of China 1. The Deputy Permanent Representative of China, Mr. Lai, paid a visit to me today. He made reference to earlier Chinese statements in the Disarmament Commission and the First Committee according to which, China would take its seat in the Committee on Disarmament "at an appropriate time" and he informed me that China will in fact occupy that seat as of February 198Q. I.e. the beginning of thfl iQao^session of the Committee. According to the rules of procedure of the Committee on Disarmament, China will take over the chairmanship of the Committee for the month" of March 198O. 2. While thanking him, I took note, on behalf of the Secretary-General, of the information with satisfaction and assured him that the Chinese delegation in the Committee on Die- armament will have the full cooperation of the Secretariat. 3. Mr. Lai also indicated the interest of China in participating in the worjc or tne advisory -Board of the Secretary- General on Disarmament Studies thus confirming the information I communicated to you in my memorandum of 14 November 1979. UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM MEMORANDUM INTERIEUR The Secretary-General 5 Decentoer Mr. P. K. Banerjee *>^* r REFERENCE: THROUGH: Officer-in-charge s/c DE Department of Political and Security Council Affairs FROM: Jan Martenson Assistant Secretary-General suBJECT:Centre for Disarmament OBJET: Disarmament Commission 1. The new Disarmament Commission has been in existence for about one year and, pursuant to a decision made at the thirty-third session of the General Assembly, the Commission will convene on 13 December 1979 to elect its Bureau for 198O. It would appear, at this stage, that Mr. Vellodi (Chairman) and the other members of the Bureau stand a good chance of being confirmed for another term, until the end of the thirty-fifth session. 2. During the two-day session (13 and 14 December) it is expected that the Commission will also give some consideration to its programme of work for 198O. In addition to the items carried over from the 1979 agenda, namely, (a) the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament, and (b) gradual agreed reduction of military budgets, among the 38 resolutions adopted by the First Committee, which will be before the General Assembly in a few days, there are three that relate to additional or complementary future activities of the Commission, as follows: (a) By resolution A/C.l/34/L.18/Rev.1, the Commission will have to prepare a draft resolution entitled "Declaration of the 198O's as a Second Disarmament Decade" and submit it to the General Assembly at its thirty-fifth session for consideration and adoption. This draft resolution should, inter alia, indicate disarmament targets for the Decade, as well as ways and means of mobilizing public opinion in that regard; (b) By resolution A/C.l/34/L.24,the Commission is requested to examine and identify effective ways and means of achieving agreements designed to freeze, reduce or otherwise restrain, in a balanced manner, military expenditures, including adequate measures of verification satisfactory to all parties concerned; (c) By resolution A/C.l/34/li.27/Rev.l, the Commission is to continue its work in accordance with its mandate, as set down in the Final Document (para.118) of the tenth special session and, in particular, - 2 - to give consideration to the agenda items mentioned in para.2 above. 4. The Disarmament Commission will have to carry out this programme of work at its substantive session to be held at Headquarters from 12 May to 6 June 198O. GMM AKU/EF bf:BAfAR/JPB/MKP/AF File: Committee on Disarmam. 23 October 1979 Mr. Rikhi Jaipal Secretary of the Committee on Disarmament and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General The Secretary-General Committee on Disarmament I wish to thank you for your situation report on the Committee on Disarmament and your smmorandum of 15 October 1979 regarding the staffing requirements of the Committee at Geneva. I was interested to read of the programme of work of the Committee on Disarmament and your assessment of its results. While I agree with you that no quick results can be obtained due to the complexity of the subjects under consideration, it is my hope that the basis created at the £irst session will enable the Committee to enter into substantive discussions at its 1930 session. As you know, I attach great importance to disarmament matters and follow the deliberations in the various fora with much interest. In this connexion, I appreciate your having informed trie in such detail of the proceedings of the Committee's first session. With regard to the questions raised in your memorandum concerning the staffing requirements of the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, I have forwarded your request to the competent departments to be dealt with accordingly. It is my understanding that the question of the seating arrangement in the Kirst Committee has been solved in the meantime. COMMITTEE ON DIS Summary of Situation Report No. 1 A brief introduction is given, containing members' assessments of role of CD. The chapter on organization of work sets out the rules of procedure and points to two unresolved issues: whether the CD is a new negotiating body or an enlargement of the previous body; and the relationship of the CD with the United Nations. A programme of work was adopted: a description of 10 areas of disarmament - the "decalogue" - from which the agenda for the year was drawn. The agenda included consideration of: nuclear test ban (as draft treaty had not been presented by the three negotiating States, the CD was unable to enter into substantive discussion of this item; no consensus was achieved on a proposal to conduct an experimental exercise to test the network of monitoring stations); cessation of nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament (useful and comprehensive discussions, which will be continued); effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon states against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons (differences of views regarding scope and nature of guarantees, but CD was able to identify the essential elements for further consideration); Chemical weapons (no agreement on organizational arrangements to negotiate on a chemical weapon ban; submission of joint USSR-USA report on the state of their bilateral negotiations); radiological weapons (submission of joint USSR-USA proposal on major elements of a treaty prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling and use of radiological weapons, on which negotiations will start in 1980); adoption of annual report which was very time-consuming as it set precedent for future reports. - 2 - In conclusion, the report points to the initial difficulties of adapting to the new composition of the CD, 1979 was con- sidered a new beginning, providing the basis for considering substantive questions,. The report noted the CD's high level of activity (.155 meetings held, 53 documents issued] which it expected to increase further with the substantive consideration of matters in 19.80, A. Knippenberg-Uther/ms l^M^I • UNITED NATIONS §*g|f NATIONS UNIES INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM ~^ MEMORANDUM INTERIEUR TO- " A h DATE- 15 October 1979 A: ' The Secretary-G^ngral REFERENCE: THROUGH: S/C DE: FROM: Rikto Jaipal Personal Representative of the Secretary-General and Secretary to the Committee on Disarmament SUBJECT: OBJET: This note deals with the secretarial staffing of the Committee on Disarmament at Geneva. I should preface this note by drawing attention to a delicate issue, namely, the existing differences of interpretation concerning the relationship between the Committee (CD) and the United Nations. Many members view the CD as an organ of the United Nations; others regard it as not a creation of the United Nations but an independent body with a unique history, reporting on its work to the General Assembly and considering the resolutions and recommendations of that Assembly without necessarily being bound by them. Both schools of thought are of the opinion that the United Nations should provide the required secretarial assistance for the CD. It is inevitable that the assistance of the United Nations Secretariat should be regarded as something special. It is important therefore that its nature and extent, in quality and quantity, should be adequately responsive to the demands made by the CD. Let me also stress that the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly decided by consensus that the CD should be the principal negotiating forum for disarmament, and this important fact needs always to be borne in mind when considering the question of the secretarial staff for the CD. The CD's performance in 1979, its first annual session, indicates that it has made a good beginning. It adopted its own rules of procedure, organized its general operational framework, and determined its agenda and work programme for the year by consensus. It also commenced substantive discussions on a number of important issues. Concrete results may be expected to emerge relatively soon in regard to some of the on-going negotiations.