Forum adopted in Rarotonga the treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons and other nuclear devices in the South Pacific. Peru welcomes this courageous effort, which contributes to nuclear disarmament, and advocates the rapid entry into force of the treaty and the three supplementary protocols in all the countries concerned, which, among other beneficial effects, should end nuclear tests in Mururoa, the cessation of which Peru has been calling for since the 1960s. The Conference on Disarmament has continued negotiations on a multilateral convention on the total and effective prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of all chemical weapons and their destruction, and there is no doubt that considerable progress has been made. Nevertheless, we believe that the Geneva forum should be urged to finish its work promptly in view of the risk of the development and production of new, more lethal chemical weapons, possibly less susceptible of international verification. In keeping with this position, Peru, on 4 June of this year, signed the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in war of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of warfare, dated 17 June 1925, and on the following day it signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, dated 10 April 1972. In doing so, Peru wishes to express again its hope that Latin America will always remain free from these weapons of mass destruction and pledges its contribution and co-operation in the achievement of that goal. NR/mh A/C.l/40/PV.ll 8 (Mr. Alzamora, Peru) The incessant increase in military expenditures, largely a result of increasing arms procurement, offers no alternative to developing countries but that of the halting of the arms race in the conventional field, so as to re-channel 
**Analysis**
The text discusses international treaties and agreements related to nuclear disarmament, chemical weapons, and biological weapons. It also touches on the topic of military expenditures and the arms race. These themes suggest that the text is primarily concerned with international relations and security issues.

**Category**
International relations, Humanitarian aid and relief