New Zealand’s Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control to Visit OPCW

24 March 2000

The New Zealand Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, H.E. Mr Matt Robson, will pay an official visit to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Monday, 27 March 2000. Mr Robson’s visit to the OPCW is part of a European tour which includes Geneva and Vienna, as well as the Hague.

While at the OPCW, Mr Robson is scheduled to meet with Acting Director-General, Mr John Gee, to discuss issues relating to the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

As part of his current European visit, Mr Robson addressed the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, where he emphasized the need to restart global disarmament. “In the year 2000 we must, I believe, signal clearly that there is a new political willingness to get things moving,” he said.

Mr Robson is a barrister and is one of the founding members of the Alliance Party in New Zealand. His current portfolio includes being Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as Minister of Corrections and Minister for Courts.

08/2000