The 2000 NPT Review
Conference
14 April - 19 May 2000, New York
Statement delivered by H.E.
Ms. Rosario Green, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mexico
On
Behalf of the New Agenda States of
Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand,
South Africa, & Sweden
2000
Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
New York,
24 April 2000
Mr. President,
May I begin by expressing
to you our congratulations on your assumption as
President of the VI Review Conference of the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and express our
full confidence in your diplomatic skills to provide the
appropriate guidance for a successful outcome. Let me
assure you of our support in the discharge of your
important responsibilities.
I have the honor to take
the floor on behalf of Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico,
New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden, to address some
issues of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation that
we think are important to ensure that the purposes of the
preamble and the provisions of the Treaty are being
realized.
This is the first occasion
that the States Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty are gathered to review the operation of the Treaty
since the adoption without a vote of the three Decisions
and the Resolution of 1995. One of the cornerstones of
this package was the Principles and Objectives which we
agreed would govern our actions in pursuing the goals of
nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
Our renewed commitment in
1995 to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective
nuclear disarmament measures included a commitment to the
determined pursuit by the nuclear-weapon States Parties
of systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear
weapons globally.
We must concede that the
period of this review has not delivered systematic and
progressive efforts by the nuclear weapon states, nor the
entry into force of any multilateral instrument in the
field of nuclear disarmament. We must recognize that the
international nuclear non-proliferation regime is in a
fraught state and that our Treaty is under stress.
It was within this context
that we jointly launched the Declaration: Towards a
Nuclear Weapon Free World: The Need for a New Agenda. Our
purpose in taking such an initiative was to put the
nuclear agenda back on track, to give a clear perspective
and underpinning through a new and clear undertaking to
bring about a nuclear weapon free world without further
prevarication.
The New Agenda is a
programme of action sufficiently flexible to adapt to the
circumstances and requirements of each successive stage
in the process that leads to the achievement of a world
without nuclear weapons. It captures the elements of
ongoing processes. And, in a pragmatic and r(~alistic way
it brings together successive steps for the international
community to implement the obligations of this Treaty.
Fundamental to this
initiative is the requirement for an unequivocal
undertaking on the part of the five nuclear weapon states
to the total elimination of their respective nuclear
arsenals. Such a commitment would be new. It would
determine all future action on the part of.the nuclear
weapon states. It would provide a reference point to
evaluate progress towards the goals of the NPT, when we
again meet in 2005 to review the implementation of the
Treaty. And it would signal determination to uphold
disarmament imperatives.
Mr. President,
The singular goal of the
States Parties to the NPT is the total elimination of
nuclear weapons. This requires bringing to a conclusion
negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its
aspects, an imperative that was the unanimous conclusion
of the International Court of Justice. Adherence to this
Treaty by all but four states, three of which operate
unsafeguarded nuclear facilities and retain the nuclear
weapons option, is a testament to the extent of
international commitment to the goal of a world free of
nuclear weapons. Underwritten by this unique commitment,
there is now an inescapable onus on the nuclear weapon
states to meet that challenge. And they must do so by
making a definitive and unequivocal undertaking to the
total elimination of nuclear weapons. This would be
demonstrated by engaging in an accelerated process of
reductions. This new signal of determination, together
with the efforts of the international community working
in concert can achieve the goal of a nuclear weapons free
world, a goal that is both realistic and pressing.
The one hundred and eighty
seven State's Parties gathered in this review process
must engage in plain speaking. We have witnessed
continued challenges to the purposes of the Treaty since
we last met in 1995. Two states non-parties have carried
out nuclear weapon test explosions. These states
non-parties and one other state non-party continue to
operate unsafeguarded facilities and have not renounced
the nuclear weapon option. There has been alleged
non-compliance by others. The achievements of the two
major nuclear weapon states parties have fallen short of
the systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear
weapons globally, as required by the 1995 Review and
Extension Conference. Besides the completion of the
negotiation of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
nothing else has been achieved on the multilateral front.
In short the response to the challenge of the persistence
of nuclear weapons has been of complacency or
indifference in some quarters.
This critical Review
Conference offers us a unique opportunity to move
definitively forward in the achievement of a world
without nuclear weapons. We have reached the juncture
when more far-reaching action must be decided upon. We
already have precedents when firm steps were taken which
initiated a process leading to the elimination of entire
categories of weapons of mass destruction. In the case of
nuclear weapons more than half a century after Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, we are long overdue in taking a determined
step in the same direction.
Yet, in place of such
determination we continue to witness re-statements of
policies and postures which reaffirm the central role of
nuclear weapons in strategic concepts and the possibility
of fighting war with the use of nuclear weapons. In
short, we are witnessing a re-rationalization of nuclear
weapons in an age when the context which gave rise to the
original proliferation of nuclear weapons among the five
nuclear weapon states has long disappeared.
The elements of the agenda
which we have set before you are not in themselves novel.
Each of these elements has been the subject of detailed
consideration. In this review process we are called upon
jointly to develop nuclear disarmament objectives on the
basis of the Treaty and the Principles and Objectives of
1995, What the New Agenda advocates is a coherence in
approach that could be attained with the necessary
political commitment.
The achievement of our
common goal requires action by all states. We do not seek
to interfere in the details of those negotiations which
are the primary responsibility of the nuclear weapon
states. We acknowledge the prime responsibility of the
United States and the Russian Federation in providing the
leadership and first steps in nuclear force reductions.
We welcome the ratification of the START II Treaty by the
Russian Federation and urge the United States to complete
the ratifica tion procedure as soon as possible so that
full and effective implementation of the Treaty can
proceed. We acknowledge the unilateral measures
undertaken by two of the five nuclear weapon states but
call for the early involvement of all five nuclear weapon
states in bringing about the elimination of their
respective nuclear forces. We consider that the principle
of irreversibility should be applied to all disarmament
measures. We look to greater transparency as the nuclear
disarmament process gains pace.
We recognize that the
process of nuclear weapons elimination will take time,
even with the implementation of an accelerated program of
force reductions. But we are also conscious that the
nuclear weapon states parties have a responsibility to
undertake interim measures consistent with a
determination to lessen the prospect of the unleashing of
nuclear weapons whether by design or accident before they
are eliminated. The measures which we advance are those
which our governments consider achievable if not in all
cases with immediate effect, but at least in step with
underlying nuclear force reductions:
- we propose that the
outcome of any evaluation of nuclear policies and
postures should result in the adoption of non-first use
strategies, by all nuclear weapon states among themselves
and of non use with respect to non-nuclear weapon states.
- we propose that
de-alerting and arrangements for the separation of
warheads from delivery vehicles be progressively
advanced.
- we underline the
importance of withdrawing non-strategic nuclear weapons
from deployment and their elimination.
- we advocate the
provision of security assurances of a legally binding
nature to all non-nuclear weapon states parties.
In the process of nuclear
disarmament, the priority pursuit of force reductions by
the nuclear weapon states must be paralleled by the
conclusion of instruments necessary to guarantee the
conditions of confidence required for a world without
nuclear weapons. Nuclear disarmament is the responsibili
ty of all states and all states must be involved in the
process leading to this goal. The maintenance of a
nuclear weapons free world will require an instrument or
a series of instruments negotiated multilaterally, which
will result in a non discriminatory and universal nuclear
non-proliferation regime.
The conclusion of the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was an essential
building block in the nuclear disarmament agenda. The
urgent commencement of negotiations on a fissionable
materials treaty must be another essential element,
providing as it would the beginnings of the extension of
multilateral verification to cover all fissile materials
for weapons purposes, as required in a world free of
nuclear weapons. Pending the conclusion and entry into
force of these instruments, we call for a moratorium by
the nuclear weapon states on all further production of
fissile materials for nuclear weapons and to uphold the
purposes of the CTBT to which they are all signatories.
We also urge those states nonparties that operate
unsafeguarded nuclear facilities to halt immediately
production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.
The further extension and
development of existing nuclear weapon free zones and
respect for their status by the nuclear weapon states
through adherence to the relevant protocols reinforce the
global thrust of non-prol ife ration efforts and the
international consensus that these contribute to that
end. We also call'for the establishment of additional
nuclear weapon free zones'especially in areas of tension
such as the Middle East and South Asia.
To date, the Conference on
Disarmament has been central to the shaping of the agenda
for a world free of nuclear weapons. It is now time to
advance our engagement there on the next steps as well as
the overall framework necessary for the achievement of a
global ban on these weapons. Other organizations, in
particular the IAEA, should be mandated to intensify work
on elaborating the verification mechanisms required in a
world free of nuclear weapons.
Mr. President,
We are encouraged by the
fact that the Secretary General in his report to the
Millennium Assembly of the United Nations proposes to
give consideration "to convening a major
international conference that would help to identify ways
of eliminating nuclear danger". We consider that an
international conference on nuclear disarmament and
nuclear nonproliferation, which effectively complements
efforts being undertaken in other settings, could
facilitate the consolidation of a new agenda for a
nuclear weapon free world.
Mr. President,
The States Parties of the
NPT gathered here today comprise one hundred and eighty
seven out of the one hundred and ninety two member states
of the international community. The three states
non-parties to the Treaty that operate unsafeguarded
nuclear facilities and engage in nuclear weapons
development are central to the achievement of nuclear
disarmament. This Review Conference must address these
states non-parties and work for their accession to the
Treaty as non-nuclear-weapon states and for the placement
of their nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards.
We are committed to this
treaty. But no treaty can be upheld, if the bargain which
originally gave rise to is not being fulfilled. This is a
critical moment for the NPT. This Review Conference may
be our last and best opportunity to move definitively
towards the. achievement of the goals of the Treaty and
to deliver the security that the retention of nuclear
weapons can never confer on humankind. Failure to move
now or to signal new determination will make these
weapons accepted currency. Nuclear power must not be
perverted to endow humanity with the reckless instrument
of its own destruction. The New Agenda is the advocacy of
responsible and concerned states for a future in
security. It is for this Conference to give this message
substance by supporting the call for a new political
undertaking for an accelerated process of action.
Mr. President:
-Consistent with the need
to identify areas in which and the means through which
further progress should be sought, the delegations of
Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa
and Sweden are putting forward a working document with
measures and steps regarding the obligation under Article
VI to achieve nuclear disarmament, and request the
Secretariat that it be circulated as an official document
of this Conference.
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