Today I would like to make a statement on behalf of a Group of Western States and the wording of the statement is as follows: "On behalf of the delegations of Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and of my own delegation, I would like to make a statement about the decision that we have just taken to establish an ad hoc committee under item 1 of our agenda. Before addressing the subject matter itself, we would like to thank Ambassador Donowaki of Japan and, through him, his predecessor Ambassador Yamada, for the work they put into bringing the Conference to this point. We also congratulate Ambassador Donowaki on his appointment to chair the Ad hoc Committee. The consensus now established will permit our Conference to restart detailed work under this agenda item after a long delay. We look forward to detailed discussion in the Committee of the various substantive issues relating to verification and compliance as well as structure and scope. We as a group and as individual States are ready to participate fully. We are pleased that the Conference agreed that the Committee should be established taking the wording of the draft mandate contained in document CD/863, the work of our former President, Ambassador Vejvoda, without any change. We are firmly of the belief that the Conference on Disarmament, as the only global multilateral negotiating forum for disarmament questions, is the most appropriate place for in-depth discussion of multilateral aspects of a nucler test ban. In our view, consideration of the question of a nuclear test ban is still at the exploratory stage. It is therefore proper that the mandate which we have given to the Committee does not require it to enter into 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be a statement made by a group of countries at an international conference, discussing the establishment of an ad hoc committee to explore the possibility of a nuclear test ban. The language used is formal and diplomatic, indicating a focus on international relations and global issues. The text does not mention specific economic, environmental, or social issues, but rather focuses on the framework and process for discussing a complex international problem.

**Category**
International relations, Science and technology