Costa Rica
Costa Rica is an example to be followed by other states, as it has adhered to all of the seven key treaties in the legal architecture on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in addition to being party to a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) treaty.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: compliance in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 5 (80%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1969, Tlatelolco) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1970) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2001) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1973) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (In force 1979) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Modified) |
| Additional Protocol | Yes (In force 2011) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, Arnoldo André Tinoco, said that his country, having joined the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), ‘is committed to working tirelessly to achieve a world which is free from nuclear weapons’.1
At the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee session in July 2024, Costa Rica urged ‘all States, including the nuclear-weapon States, to join the [TPNW], an instrument that complements and strengthens the standards of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, in particular Article VI.’2
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Costa Rica said that the ‘TPNW stands as the only multilateral agreement that operationalises gender-sensitive assistance for victims affected by nuclear warfare and testing’ and reiterated its call for ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the TPNW’.3
Costa Rica was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force and called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.4
Costa Rica also promoted adherence to the TPNW as part of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in 2024.
Recommendations
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Costa Rica should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Costa Rica should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.