Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 17, July - August 1997

START I Commission Agrees New Implementation Arrangements

On 17 June, the Joint Compliance and Inspection Commission in charge of reviewing progress toward implementing the full terms of the START (Strategic Arms Reduction) I Treaty issued the following statement on its latest discussions:

"On 17 June, 1997, in Geneva, Representatives of the United States, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakstan, and Ukraine, completed several Joint Compliance and Inspection Commission (JCIC) Joint Statements and one Agreement enhancing the effective implementation of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty... These documents were the result of negotiations during the fifteenth session of the START Treaty's JCIC.

The JCIC is responsible for resolving implementation questions and for discussing and agreeing upon measures to enhance the viability and effectiveness of the START Treaty.

The fifteenth session of the Commission, which began on 14 May, 1997, will conclude on 18 June, 1997."

According to reports, 13 agreements were signed, most concerned with the size of sites to be inspected, allowing for reductions in the area subjected to inspection once a facility has been certified to be 'clean' - free of all nuclear weapons and related materials and equipment.

Report: Joint statement on compliance as to strategic weapons, United States Information Agency, 17 June.

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