Page 109 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

Bringing the Concept to Life

negotiating body emerged from the decisions of the 1978 special session on
disarmament, namely, the Committee on Disarmament, whose name was
changed to "Conference on Disarmament", effective 7 February 1984.The
Conference on Disarmament, in the language of the Final Document of the
special session, is the "single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum" of
the international community. Its membership of 38 specifically includes the 5
nuclear-weapon States and ЗЗ other States. The new forum started its session
in 1979 carrying forward the negotiating efforts of previous multilateral negoti-
ating bodies. The Conference on Disarmament has а unique relationship with
the United Nations. It defines its own rules of procedure and develops its own
annual agenda, taking into account the recommendations made by the General
Assembly. It also reports to the General Assembly annually or more frequently,
as may be appropriate. The budget of the Conference on Disarmament is in-
cluded in that of the United Nations, and the Conference holds its meetings on
United Nations premises and is serviced bу United Nations personnel, namely,
the Geneva Branch of the Centre for Disarmament Affairs. The Secretary-
General of the Conference is appointed directly by the Secretary-General of
the United Nations in consultation with the Conference's members, and acts as
his personal representative.

The Conference is entrusted with the responsibility of negotiating
multilateral agreements on disarmament measures. This role is complex,
because initially it amounted to attempting to reverse an arms race which had
been going on for some 40 years. Since its establishment, the Conference has
worked on two levels. On the one hand, it has been engaged in а negotiating
process on, inter alia, а ban on the development, production and stockpiling of
chemical weapons and on their destruction; а nuclear test ban; and effective
international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the
use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. On the other hand, it has been engaged
in exploratory discussions that precede negotiations, such as identification of
issues, clarification of objectives, and examination of legal and security aspects
on а variety of disarmament issues, including such questions as transparency in
armaments and the prevention of an arms race in outer space.

As at 7 September 1994 the members of the Conference on Disarmament
are: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China,
Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran
(Islamic Republic of), Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco,
Myanmar, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russian
Federation, Sri Lanka, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and

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