after the introduction of the proposal to deal separately with chemical and biological weapons, the fears then expressed that this would be tantamount to postponing indefinitely the total prohibition of chemical weapons are being confirmed. In spite of the changes in the mandate of the Ad hoc Committee on Chemical Weapons, in spite of the tireless efforts of its Chairman, Ambassador Hyltenius and the chairmen of the three Working Groups to advance the negotiations, both on the technical aspects and on the political aspects of the draft convention, my delegation has the impression that we are losing the impetus or "momentum" generated initially by the Paris Conference of January 1989 and strengthened by a series of international meetings which confirmed the urgency of concluding a convention totally prohibiting chemical weapons. As we approach the end of this session of the Conference, and before we get down to the tedious task of "negotiating" the report we shall be presenting to the General Assembly, it would be worthwhile giving some thought to the reason why, on the subject on which we are focusing a high percentage of our energies - as is demonstrated by the statements in plenary, the tremendous number of working documents and the conference services assigned to the Ad hoc Committee on Chemical Weapons - it would seem that we are moving further away from the original objective of attaining a convention comprehensively banning chemical weapons. A few weeks ago, at the Washington summit, the United States and the Soviet Union signed an agreement on the destruction and non-production of chemical weapons and the means of facilitating a multilateral convention prohibiting such weapons. We hope it will shortly enter into force so that the commitment to cease production of chemical weapons will be put into effect and the process of the destruction of these weapons will begin.
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing a diplomatic effort to prohibit chemical weapons, mentioning international meetings, conferences, and agreements between world powers. The focus is on the negotiations and progress (or lack thereof) towards a comprehensive ban on chemical weapons. This suggests that the text is related to international relations and diplomacy.

**Category**
International humanitarian aid and relief, Science and technology