Guyana
Speaking at the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022, Guyana said: 'This Meeting of States Parties is faced with a historic task. We meet to develop a blueprint for the implementation of the TPNW, and we must do so conscious of the fact that nuclear weapons today have an expanded role in military doctrines.’[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 (2022) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 1 (100%) |
| 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 1995, Tlatelolco) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1993) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2001) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 2013) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Original) |
| Additional Protocol | No |
| 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, Guyana expressed alarm ‘at prevailing negative trends which seek to normalise the threat of use of [nuclear] weapons’, adding that ‘we cannot afford to be complacent about the risk of mutually assured destruction’. It welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021, noting that the Treaty ‘builds upon, contributes to, and strengthens the NPT and complements efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons’.2
Marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2022, Guyana warned: ‘The ongoing war in Ukraine and heightened tensions around the globe have raised the threat of a nuclear disaster. We are but one miscalculation away from a humanitarian catastrophe of global proportions. It also welcomed the adoption of a declaration and action plan at the 1MSP, and said: ‘We are fully committed to working with all states to implement the provisions. We urge states that have not yet done so to ratify the TPNW and commit to a world free of nuclear weapons.’ 3
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Guyana underscored its ‘full support for the universalisation and effective implementation of the [TPNW]’, which it described as ‘one of the strongest tools we have’ to ensure the total elimination of nuclear weapons.4
Guyana was one of the co-sponsors for the 2022 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which 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.'5
Recommendations
- Guyana should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
- Guyana should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.
- Guyana should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol with the IAEA, and upgrade to a Modified Small Quantities Protocol.