As we have already indicated, Canada refuses to recognize any conditional link among the various points in the CD's draft program of work. We feel that if a consensus fails to emerge concerning the program of work as a whole, the CD should be able to take action in those areas where there is consensus. Consequently, we would like the CD to re-establish the special committee as soon as possible, with a mandate to negotiate a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The CD, which comprises 61 member States, was mandated by the 187 States Parties to the NPT to negotiate such a treaty. We should therefore take advantage of the opportunity offered to us in connection with this Preparatory Committee to remind the member States of the CD of the great importance that the States Parties to the NPT attach to the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
Time is of the essence.
The Conference on Disarmament must get to work at once, in a constructive spirit. The CD's credibility, if not its very future, hangs in the balance. We also raised a number of strategic factors that will need to be looked at, as well as highlighting certain structural questions that we will need to resolve. The negotiation of an FMCT is a priority for Canada, because such a treaty will constitute an important element in the process that will eventually lead to the total elimination of nuclear weapons. In other words, Canada opposes using the negotiations for the future FMCT as a pretext for redefining, even partially, the system of disarmament and non-proliferation based on the NPT, to which almost the entire international community is party.