U.S. Offers Draft Treaty To Halt Fissile Material Production

Attempts to break negotiating stalemate by removing verification provisions

The United States on May 18 presented a draft global treaty that would halt any future production of the fissile material used to make nuclear weapons, and expressed hope that a final treaty could be completed by the end of 2006.

Stephen Rademaker, acting assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, set out the proposal in Geneva at the Conference on Disarmament, the body that would negotiate the ban.

"The treaty text that we are putting forward contains the essential provisions that would comprise a successful, legally binding FMCT [Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty]," Rademaker said. "Our draft treaty has straightforward scope: it bans, after entry into force, the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices."

The U.S. circulated two documents to Conference on Disarmament members: the short text of a draft mandate that would establish an ad hoc committee to carry out the FMCT negotiations, and a four-page draft treaty to serve as the basis for those negotiations.

Although achieving an FMCT is a broadly shared goal among member states, the 65-nation conference, which operates by consensus, has been unable to agree on establishing the negotiating committee. Members have been meeting to find a way out of the impasse.

Traditionally some conference members have linked commencing talks on an FMCT to unrelated agenda items, a phenomenon Rademaker referred to as "hostage-taking."

The 10-year stalemate has led some to question the viability of the world's only multilateral arms-control negotiating body, and some nations have withdrawn their specialized diplomats from Geneva.

Rademaker said the United States believes 2006 will be "critical to the continued existence of the [Conference on Disarmament]." He said President Bush demonstrated "America's renewed commitment" to the body by nominating Christina Rocca as the new U.S. ambassador to the conference. (See related article.)

The United States does not believe that the FMCT could be verified effectively, and the draft text submitted May 18 contains no provisions for verification.

"This does not mean that the treaty would be unverified," Rademaker said. Rather the "primary responsibility for verification would rest with the parties, using their own national means and methods."

If concerns about the compliance of a member state emerge, the draft treaty includes a mechanism for asking the U.N. Security Council to consider the issue.

Rademaker urged delegations to "begin immediate debate" on the treaty draft, with "the objective of approving a text for signature by the end of this year's [Conference on Disarmament] session.

"The point," he said, "is to stop fissile material production as soon as possible.

"One of the purposes served by putting forward our draft treaty today was to underscore how simple the negotiating task is on an FMCT if we set aside the issue of verification," he added.

Rademaker stressed that the U.S. draft text is meant to trigger the initiation of negotiations, and is not being offered on a "take it or leave it basis."

"We hope that the obstacles that have existed in the past can be overcome, and it was in an effort to overcome those obstacles that we offered the proposed text and proposed mandate that we have put forward today," he said.

Rademaker's statement and the U.S. draft proposals are available on the Web site of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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