PRESS RELEASE

10 May 1998

Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Setback

The second Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) Meeting for the 2000 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which wrapped up close to midnight on 8 May, failed to reach agreement on any substantive issues. Tentative agreement reached on Thursday evening on some text on substantive issues collapsed during Friday, as delegations were unable to agree on language on the Middle East and nuclear disarmament. According to a variety of sources, the nuclear-weapons states were primarily responsible for preventing consensus on most of the issues. In particular, the United States objected to any language on the Middle East, a priority for a number of NPT parties.

Delegations did reach a agreement on a minimal text that simply listed the states parties that attended, the documents released, and some details for the next meeting, which will be held next April in New York.

A clear majority of the states present support reaching agreement on a number of areas, including next steps in nuclear disarmament. However, one or more of the five nuclear weapon states – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – prevented agreement on any new proposals. For example, Canada has proposed that this PrepCom issue a statement on the START process, calling for further progress in reductions of strategic nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States. Those two states have objected however either to the statement or to the idea of the PrepCom making any declarations.

For the first time, non-aligned countries in their joint statement have specifically criticized the deployment of US nuclear weapons under NATO nuclear sharing arrangements in Europe. Seven European countries still host US tactical nuclear weapons. The over 100 member states of the non-aligned movement stated their concern that these arrangements undermine the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Agreement at this PrepCom to mention those concerns appears extremely unlikely.

"This a severe setback for the Treaty and for the non-proliferation regime as a whole," said Stephen Young, Senior Analyst at BASIC. "Clearly, if this process is to have any meaning at all, states will have to come better prepared to achieve substantive results at the next meeting."

More information and analysis on the PrepCom will be forthcoming on the BASIC website in the coming days.

Back to 1998 NPT PrepCom