print-only banner
The White House Skip Main Navigation
  
In Focus
News
More News more news

News by Date

Appointments

Federal Facts

West Wing

 Home > News & Policies > July 2008

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 8, 2008

G8 Declaration on Political Issues

     Fact sheet G8 Summit 2008

Non Proliferation

57. We are determined to make every effort to overcome the danger of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery means and to prevent acquisition of WMD by terrorists, by upholding, strengthening and universalizing all relevant multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament instruments.

58. We are committed to resolving regional proliferation challenges by diplomatic means. We express our continuous support for the Six-Party process towards the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the eventual normalization of relations between the relevant Six-Party members through the full implementation of the Joint Statement of 19 September 2005, including the resolution of the outstanding issues of concern such as the abduction issue.

Noting the progress made through the Six-Party process since last year, we welcome, though long overdue, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s provision of a declaration as a step toward the full implementation of the Joint Statement. Comprehensive verification of the declaration is of utmost importance, and we look forward to an early agreement on the principles/regime of the verification. We urge the DPRK to fully cooperate in the verification process, including its effective implementation. We also emphasize the importance of swift disablement of all existing nuclear facilities and the abandonment of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes by the DPRK. We also urge the DPRK to fully comply with United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1695 and 1718, including abandoning all its nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes as well as all other existing WMD and ballistic missile programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, and to return to full compliance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and IAEA safeguards at an early date.

59. We express our serious concern at the proliferation risks posed by Iran's nuclear programme and Iran's continued failure to meet its international obligations. We urge Iran to fully comply with UNSCRs 1696, 1737, 1747 and 1803 without further delay, and in particular to suspend all enrichment-related activities. We also urge Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA, including by providing clarification of the issues contained in the latest report of the IAEA Director General. We firmly support and cooperate with the efforts by China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States supported by the High Representative of the EU to resolve the issue innovatively through negotiation, and urge Iran to respond positively to their offer delivered on 14 June 2008. We also commend the efforts by other G8 members, particularly the high-level dialogue by Japan, towards a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the issue. We welcome the work of the Financial Action Task Force to assist states in implementing their financial obligations under the relevant UNSCRs.

60. We will work collectively to achieve a successful outcome of the 2010 NPT Review Conference. In this context, we reaffirm our full commitment to all three pillars (non-proliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy and disarmament) of the NPT and pledge ourselves to redouble our efforts to uphold and strengthen the Treaty. We welcome all nuclear disarmament efforts, notably the ongoing reductions of nuclear weapons that the nuclear-weapon States among G8 members have made so far and call on all nuclear-weapon States to undertake such reductions in a transparent manner.

61. We urge all states concerned to observe a moratorium on nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions. We strongly support immediate commencement and early conclusion of negotiation of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament. We urge all states concerned to declare without delay and uphold a moratorium on production of fissile material for weapons purposes.

62. We welcome the current progress of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), namely the successful outcome of the CWC 2nd Review Conference and reiterate the vital importance of their full and effective implementation.

We stress the importance of and remain committed to the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation and urge all states to subscribe to the Code without delay.

63. Preventing and countering proliferation requires all states to implement effective measures. We will redouble our efforts to work together to that end in a more harmonized and coordinated manner. In this context we welcome the extension of the mandate of the 1540 Committee and stress the importance of full implementation of UNSCR 1540.

We further stress the importance of:
- effective export controls,
- strengthening of IAEA safeguards and the universalization of the IAEA Additional Protocol,
- the IAEA Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, and
- supporting the activities of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and the Proliferation Security Initiative which has just celebrated its 5th anniversary.

64. We are determined to accomplish priority projects under the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction that was launched at the Kananaskis Summit in 2002. Since the risks of the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction exist worldwide, we agree that the Partnership will address these global challenges particularly in areas where the risks of terrorism and proliferation are greatest.

65. We reaffirm the inalienable right of all parties to the NPT to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in conformity with all their Treaty obligations. We are committed to and promote the highest possible standards on nuclear non-proliferation, safeguards, safety and security (3S) including the IAEA Additional Protocol. In this context, we appreciate various initiatives in the field of multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle and assurance of nuclear fuel supply and encourage all efforts to further develop them. In relation to nuclear safety, we reaffirm commitments of previous summit meetings with regard to Chernobyl and have decided to organize jointly a pledging event for this purpose in 2008.

66. We welcome the significant progress made by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in moving toward consensus on a criteria based approach to strengthen controls on transfers of enrichment and reprocessing equipment, facilities and technology. We support the NSG effort to reach consensus on this important issue. Additionally, we agree that transfers of enrichment equipment, facilities and technology to any additional state in the next year will be subject to conditions that, at a minimum, do not permit or enable replication of the facilities; and where technically feasible reprocessing transfers to any additional state will be subject to those same conditions.

Transnational Organized Crime

67. In a globalized world, characterized by massive flows of people, goods, money and information, swift and malicious exploitation of those changes by criminal organizations threatens the safety of our citizens and the well-being of our societies and institutions. We reaffirm our commitment to preventing and combating transnational organized crime using all means at our disposal, while ensuring the rule of law and respect for human rights. We will strengthen our cooperation, including experience-sharing, to fight against transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, cybercrime and money laundering.

68. Recognizing the diversified threats and methods of transnational organized crime, we will reinforce our efforts to tackle a wide range of threats including the abuse of information and communication technology as well as identity-related crime. We will continue to assist countries in their capacity building efforts to address threats of transnational organized crime, bilaterally and multilaterally, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and other multilateral organizations. In this regard, we reiterate our strong support for full implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols.

Peacekeeping/Peacebuilding

69. We commit to strengthen humanitarian, stabilization, military and reconstruction assistance, consistent with our national laws, to the areas of urgent need. To that end, we will improve our individual and collective efforts and capability for peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

70. We underscore the need for a comprehensive approach, in particular, through better coordination among military and civilian activities, stressing the importance of security sector reform, good governance and the local ownership. We will also maximize our efforts to ensure the security of civilians. We support the key role of the UN, including the Security Council and peace support operations, and work towards enhancing the effectiveness of the Peacebuilding Commission. We are also determined to strengthen our cooperation with regional organizations and, inter alia, to support the capacity building of AU.

71. In this context, to fulfill or exceed our Sea Island and subsequent commitments, we commit to enhance the capacity in the three interlinking areas of focus, namely, military, police, and civilians worldwide. We will, in particular: (a) build capacity for peace support operations including providing quality training to and equipping troops by 2010, with focus on Africa, as well as enhance logistics and transportation support for deployment; (b) strengthen assistance both in quality and quantity to train and equip police in countries in and emerging from conflict, as well as continue to develop global capacity for police peacekeeping including stability/formed police units, and; (c) strengthen our domestic endeavor to develop civilian human resources to play core roles in peacebuilding.

72. We task our experts to discuss G8 efforts including the implementation of the initiatives above, in cooperation with the UN and regional organizations, and to submit a progress report prior to the Summit in 2009.

# # #