Morocco
Morocco voted in favour of adopting the TPNW at the UN Diplomatic Conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2023. It also paricpated as an observer at the First and Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP and 2MSP). Morocco maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes (observer) |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (0%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Abstained |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 2022, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1970) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2000) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 2002) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1995) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (18 Feb 1975) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No (Rescinded 2007) |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
In a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2023, Morocco said that the 1MSP, held in 2022, ‘strengthened the efforts towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons’. It attended the meeting as an observer because it understands ‘the importance of international cooperation in achieving desired goals’.1
At the 2MSP in November and December 2023, Morocco said: ‘It is time for the international community to review its approach to disarmament and non-proliferation’. It also noted its active participation in the negotiation of the TPNW in 2017 and the broad consistency of its foreign policy with the obligations contained in the Treaty.2 It expressed support for the TPNW’s universalisation and efforts to promote ‘its authority and its founding principles’, and it described the Vienna Action Plan adopted at the First Meeting of States Parties as a ‘solid basis’ for implementing and universalising the Treaty.
In January 2023, Morocco participated in an African regional seminar on universalisation of the TPNW in Pretoria, hosted by the South African foreign ministry.3
Recommendations
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Morocco should urgently adhere to the TPNW.