welcome the new Chairman, Ambassador Hyltenius of Sweden, and wish him success in his task. Since I last addressed the subject of chemical weapons in plenary in August 1989, many events have taken place, including the Canberra Government-Industry Conference against Chemical Weapons, the United States-USSR memorandum of understanding in Wyoming, the Ninth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, the forty-fourth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations and the Soviet-American joint statement of 10 February 1990. Yet a breakthrough towards a comprehensive convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons seems at present to be still beyond our reach. We recognize that a considerable degree of progress has been achieved. CD/PV.549 4 (Mr, Elaraby. Egypt) We do, however, realize that we still have a long way to go to finalize the convention. This may be partially attributed to the fact that the 1989 session dealt mainly with "technical" issues. We understand very well the importance of resolving such technical aspects. In the course of the current session we hope meaningful progress can also be made on the political aspects of the draft convention. Today, I wish to put before the Conference my delegation's reflections on some of these remaining questions. An issue which attracts special attention, though from different standpoints, is that of the relation of the future convention on chemical weapons to other international agreements. It is our understanding that, in accordance with the general rules of international law and article 30 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the chemical weapons convention, being a subsequent legal instrument on the same subject-matter, prevails over any existing international agreement covering the same subject-matter from the moment of its entry into force. Our work would be undone if unilaterally 
**Analysis**
This text appears to be related to international diplomacy and disarmament, specifically discussing the development of a comprehensive convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons. The language used is formal and diplomatic, suggesting that it is a speech or statement made by a representative of a country or organization.

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