The General Assembly,
Recalling its previous resolutions on the prohibition of the development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons,
Taking note of paragraph 77 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly,
Determined to prevent the emergence of new types of weapons of mass destruction that have characteristics comparable in destructive effect to those of weapons of mass destruction identified in the definition of weapons of mass destruction adopted by the United Nations in 1948,
Noting that in the course of its 1992 and 1993 sessions the Conference on Disarmament considered the item entitled "New types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons: radiological weapons",
Taking into account the sections of the reports of the Conference on Disarmament relating to this question,
1. Reaffirms that effective measures should be taken to prevent the emergence of new types of weapons of mass destruction;
2. Requests the Conference on Disarmament, in the light of its existing priorities, to keep under review, with expert assistance, as appropriate, the questions of the prohibition of the development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons with a view to making, when necessary, recommendations on undertaking specific negotiations on the identified types of such weapons;
3. Calls upon all States, immediately following the recommendation of the Conference on Disarmament, to give favourable consideration to those recommendations;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to transmit to the Conference on Disarmament all documents relating to the consideration of this item by the General Assembly at its forty- eighth session;
5. Requests the Conference on Disarmament to continue the practice of reporting the results of its consideration of these questions in its annual report to the General Assembly;
6. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Prohibition of the development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons: report of the Conference on Disarmament".
81st plenary meeting
16 December 1993
