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It is with great pleasure that I address this landmark Tenth Conference of the States Parties and welcome you in the chair. The full agenda before us this week provides a valuable opportunity to reflect on the progress made over the last decade.
In the current uncertain international environment there is much discussion about the risk of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons, falling into the hands of non-state actors. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 is key in this regard.
New Zealand’s goal has long been the complete, verifiable, and irreversible elimination of weapons of mass destruction. We consider that it is now more important than ever to work towards a strengthened framework of multilateral agreements, with verification provisions that are as strong as necessary to provide the confidence that will finally allow us to eliminate weapons of mass destruction from the world.
The Chemical Weapons Convention is a key instrument within this framework. By outlawing chemical weapons completely for all states parties, setting deadlines for the complete destruction of existing chemical weapons stockpiles, and providing for verification, it sets a standard that we would like to see emulated in other contexts.
The destruction of chemical weapons and associated facilities is the central objective of this Convention. Destruction is a technically demanding and expensive process. Our view remains, however, that it is essential for the credibility of the Convention that all stockpiles be destroyed by 2012, the deadline under the Convention. We therefore wish to see all possessor states making every effort to ensure this deadline is met.
New Zealand is playing its part by contributing, through the G8 Global Partnership, to the construction of the chemical weapons destruction facility at Shchuch’ye in the Russian Federation. This year our budget included further funding for additional Global Partnership projects and we are currently considering how those funds might be allocated. Obviously chemical weapons destruction remains a high priority.
New Zealand places considerable importance on ensuring that there is a robust and comprehensive verification mechanism. We had hoped that a decision on a new methodology for selecting industrial sites for inspection would have been ready for this Conference. That has not proved possible but we look forward to seeing a new paper from the facilitator in the near future. For our part we seek a methodology that is fair (not least in the geographical distribution of inspections) and that is effective in targeting the facilities that present the greatest risk. We hope that, by this time next year, we will have reached agreement on the way forward.
New Zealand also regards the challenge inspection mechanism as an important component of the verification regime. This is a powerful sanction and one that we should be prepared to use as and when the occasion arises. New Zealand is pleased that this year consultations have taken place and encourages further progress on this issue.
Universal adherence is key to the effectiveness of the Convention. By committing to the Convention, states send a strong signal to all the world’s citizens that the possession and development of chemical weapons is unacceptable. We are pleased therefore to see the total number of states parties has risen over the last year to 175. In our own Pacific region Vanuatu has just joined the Convention. As a result, there is now universality in the Pacific – a significant achievement.
We are aware, however, of the challenges that lie ahead in bringing on board those possessor states currently outside the regime. This is not something that can be left to the Technical Secretariat or to one or two states – we all have a responsibility to promote adherence to the Convention in our bilateral contacts and in other fora as opportunities arise.
Becoming party to the Convention is just the beginning as this is one of those treaties that require implementation. Even for non-possessor states, the obligations are quite onerous. This year the Technical Secretariat has done an excellent job in conducting Article VII related activities in many different regions, including the Pacific.
This week we will review the Plan of Action on Article VII obligations. Much has been achieved since it was adopted two years ago and New Zealand certainly wants to see the positive momentum continue.
In deciding the way forward it is important, however, to achieve an appropriate balance. Many states that have not fully implemented the Convention have small bureaucracies, few resources, and many competing priorities. Most will need appropriately targeted assistance if they are to implement the complex obligations in the Convention. We must therefore take their situations into account in our decision on the follow up to the present Plan of Action. In particular, it is important to formulate a decision that will encourage states to persevere rather than decide it is all too hard. If new deadlines are to be set they must be realistic, especially for those states which only recently joined the Convention. We must also take care to avoid imposing so many reporting obligations that they detract from the task of implementation itself.
New Zealand is generally supportive of the proposal from the African group to establish a regional office in Africa. We agree that this is a region that could benefit from additional support to promote the goals of universality and implementation of the Convention. We support further work being done over the next year on modalities so that the 11th Conference can consider a detailed recommendation.
We were pleased that consultations were able to resume this year on Article XI. The approach taken by the facilitators, focusing first on the areas where agreement seems possible, is a sensible one. We certainly hope that a consensus decision can be achieved this week. Of course, some difficult issues remain but it is possible to continue to work through these in future consultations.
Turning now to the budget, we congratulate the Technical Secretariat for developing a budget that has already achieved consensus in the Executive Council. This is a substantial achievement, and something we hope to see repeated in future years. It is, however, a very tight budget. We therefore urge all States Parties to make additional efforts to pay their contributions in full, on time, and without conditions.
Finally, we were pleased that Director-General Pfirter decided to seek another term. We wish to take this opportunity to express New Zealand’s appreciation for all the work he has done in his first term. This Organisation is certainly in very good health as a result of his efforts and we look forward to continuing to work with him in the coming years.
We are looking forward to a productive Conference in the week ahead under your able chairmanship. Thank you.
