News

26 September 1997

TEXT: FACT SHEET ON AGREEMENT ON CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURES

(Issued after the signing ceremony in New York 9/26) (350)



(The following fact sheet on the Agreement on Confidence-Building
Measures was issued by the Department of State at the conclusion of
the signing ceremony in New York September 26, 1997.)


FACT SHEET



Agreement On Confidence-Building Measures



To promote reciprocal openness and transparency, the Parties agreed on
a Confidence-Building Measures Agreement (CBMA). The following are its
key elements:


-- The Parties agreed that the TMD systems subject to its provisions
are: for the United States: the U.S. Army's Theater High-Altitude Area
Defense (THAAD) system and the U.S. Navy's Theater-Wide TMD system;
for the Russian Federation, Belarus, and Ukraine: the SA-12 system.
(Kazakhstan does not possess the SA-12 system.) Additional
lower-velocity TMD systems may in the future become subject to the
CBMA's provisions as agreed upon by the Parties. All higher-velocity
TMD systems will be subject to the CBMA.


-- Ninety days after entry-into-force, the CBMA provides for an
initial exchange of data, including data on each Party's own TMD
systems and the components (i.e., launcher, interceptor missile, and
radar) of each TMD system subject to the CBMA. The data will be
updated annually by the Parties.


The Parties are obligated to provide notifications regarding their
respective country's test ranges from which TMD systems subject to the
CBMA will be tested, and requires notifications -- 10 days in advance
-- of any test launches of interceptor missiles of TMD systems subject
to the CBMA in which ballistic target-missiles are used.


-- The Parties may provide additional information on a voluntary
basis.


-- The Parties will consider, within the Standing Consultative
Commission (SCC), appropriate proposals to enhance the viability of
the CBMA.


-- Each Party may implement voluntary measures to enhance
transparency, for example, through arranging demonstrations or tests
of TMD systems which the other Parties may be invited to observe.


The CBMA will enter into force simultaneously with the Agreed
Statements relating to lower- and higher-velocity TMD systems, and
will remain in force as long as either of those Agreed Statements
remains in force.