United States Mission Geneva

As this is the first time I am taking the floor this year, allow me to begin by congratulating you on assuming the post as the first President of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) during the 2010 session, and to thank you for your extensive efforts already this year. I wish to assure you and all members of the P6 of my Delegation’s full support for your collective efforts throughout this year.

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The U.S. delegation led by Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller has returned for a recess from the START negotiations in Geneva. The team has gone through an intensive period of negotiations with their Russian counterparts over more than two months. Our goal remains to conclude a solid treaty for the President’s signature as soon as possible, and we expect that the teams will resume their negotiations in Geneva in mid-January.

The effective dissemination of a lethal biological agent within an unprotected population could place at risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The unmitigated consequences of such an event could overwhelm our public health capabilities, potentially causing an untold number of deaths. The economic cost could exceed one trillion dollars for each such incident.

I have come here today to share with you President Obama’s strategy for preventing biological weapons proliferation and bioterrorism. The United States intends to implement this strategy through renewed cooperation and more thorough consultations with our international counterparts in order to prevent the misuse and abuse of science while working together to strengthen health security around the world.

Recognizing our mutual determination to support strategic stability between the United States of America and the Russian Federation, we express our commitment, as a matter of principle, to continue to work together in the spirit of the START Treaty following its expiration, as well as our firm intention to ensure that a new treaty on strategic arms enter into force at the earliest possible date.

We’re actively pursuing the means to continue transparency and verification measures on a bilateral basis with Russia during the period between START expiration and entry into force of the new treaty. We believe that the success of the verification procedures in the existing START treaty has given us a positive base to build on in the new treaty.

The United States will send an interagency delegation of humanitarian mine action experts to observe the Second Review Conference of the 1997 “Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction,” also known as the Ottawa Convention

The United States is pleased to participate in this 11th conference of High Contracting Parties to Protocol II on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-traps, and Other Devices, as amended in 1996. The United States landmine policy, as announced in 2004, meets or exceeds all of the provisions of Amended Protocol II. Our national report, provided to the Secretariat today, provides updates to our previous reports, primarily related to assistance activities. In addition to our national implementation of the Protocol, we provide a range of humanitarian mine action assistance to countries around the world.