opportunity to touch upon the forthcoming fourth review conference of the non-proliferation Treaty. The repeated calls for an urgent comprehensive test-ban treaty by the vast majority of the Member States of the United Nations General Assembly constitute authoritative support for the work of the Conference on Disarmament on a CTBT. My delegation notes with satisfaction that the efforts carried out last year by Ambassador Yamada of Japan, and continued this year by his successor, Ambassador Donowaki, have created better conditions for a dialogue on the issue of a mandate for an ad hoe committee on a nuclear test ban. I hope that there will be enough flexibility in the Conference to agree on a reasonably balanced mandate, allowing us, at last, to get down to business on a CTBT. An ad hoe committee should be established without further delay. Already in the 1963 partiol test-ban Treaty the nuclear-weapon States parties to the Treaty expressed their determination to seek to achieve the discontinuance of all test explosions of nuclear weapons for all time. The initiative to try to advance the issue through an amendment conference, with the aim of transforming the Treaty into a comprehensive test-ban treaty, is an expression of the frustration over the lack of results on this issue in the Conference on Disarmament. The Soviet Union and the United States are about to reach agreement on verification arrangements for their bilateral threshold test-ban Treaty and peaceful nuclear explosions Treaty. Thresholds of 150 kilotons do not impose meaningful limitations on nuclear testing. If linked to the early conclusion of a comprehensive test-ban treaty, a lowering of the threshold to yields below one kiloton would be a significant advancement towards such a treaty. In such a context, agreed reductions in existing nuclear-weapon stockpiles would be truly effective. On the important issue of verifying a nuclear test-ban treaty, 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be a diplomatic statement discussing the prospects of a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty, with references to international agreements, verification arrangements, and the efforts of various countries. The language used is formal and technical, suggesting a focus on international relations and disarmament. The text does not mention economic development, natural resources, or human welfare, which are typical concerns in other categories.

**Category**
International relations, Science and technology