El Salvador
Addressing the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022, El Salvador said that the Treaty ‘constitutes a fundamental step towards the prevention of the use of nuclear weapons and the achievement and maintenance of a world free of nuclear weapons’.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (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 (2023) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 2 (50%) |
| 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 1968, Tlatelolco) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1972) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1998) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1991) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1995) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Modified) |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August 2022, El Salvador celebrated the fact that earlier in the year Central America became ‘the first region in the world to fully ratify this important nuclear disarmament instrument’, reflecting the political will of Central American states to support multilateral efforts for peace and security. El Salvador also emphasised that the TPNW and NPT are complementary, with the TPNW contributing to implementation of Article VI of the NPT. ‘For our country, the humanitarian consequences derived from the use of nuclear weapons are catastrophic, which is why we advocate their complete prohibition and their total elimination,’ it added.2
In a closing statement to the NPT Review Conference, El Salvador and 64 other TPNW supporters urged ‘all states committed to attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons to join the TPNW without delay’.3
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, El Salvador expressed support for the Vienna Action Plan adopted at the 1MSP. ‘We call on those states that have not yet done so to ratify or accede to [the TPNW] as soon as possible,’ it said.4
Recommendations
- El Salvador should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
- El Salvador should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.