Malaysia
As part of the inter-sessional process for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), Malaysia currently serves as a co-chair, together with New Zealand, of the informal working group on the implementation of Article 4 of the Treaty, ‘in particular work related to the future designation of a competent international authority or authorities’ that would oversee the elimination of nuclear weapons.1 Previously, Malaysia served as a co-chair of the informal working group on universalisation.
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) | 14 (36%) |
| 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 1996, Bangkok) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1970) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2008) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1991) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2000) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (In force 1972) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No (Rescinded 2018) |
| Additional Protocol | No (Signed 2005) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee session in July 2024, Malaysia described the TPNW as ‘a landmark instrument signifying political will to advance steadily toward a world free of nuclear weapons’. Moreover, it noted that the TPNW ‘is fully compatible with and complementary to the NPT and other elements of the global disarmament architecture’.2
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, Malaysia said that the TPNW ‘reflects the earnest desire of States to free our world from the scourge of these abhorrent instruments of war and destruction’. It also noted the TPNW’s ‘integral role in reframing debates and paradigms on nuclear weapons, drawing on the latest scientific and technical knowledge’.3 At the same meeting, Malaysia welcomed the recent ratifications of the TPNW by Indonesia, Sierra Leone, and the Solomon Islands. ‘The steady advance of the TPNW should provide additional impetus for progress on other key elements of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, including the [Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)] and nuclear-weapon-free zones,’ it said.4
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Malaysia hailed the TPNW as ‘a significant breakthrough in our collective endeavours to free the world from inherent danger of nuclear weapons’ and pledged to ‘work in earnest’ to achieve its universalisation.5 It also noted that the Treaty ‘is steadily growing in strength’.6
Malaysia 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’.7
Recommendations
-
Malaysia should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
-
Malaysia should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.
-
Malaysia should bring into force its Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
4) Ibid