New Zealand
Speaking at the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) to the TPNW in Vienna in June 2022, Philip Twyford, New Zealand’s Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, said: ‘Nuclear weapons are never the answer. But our Treaty can be.’[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) | 8 (25%) |
| 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 1985, Rarotonga) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1969) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1999) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1972) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) |
| 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
The 1MSP appointed New Zealand and Mexico as co-chairs of an informal working group responsible for promoting implementation of Article 4 of the TPNW, in particular with respect to the future designation of a competent international authority or authorities to oversee such work. 2
In a video statement to an ICAN forum held in the days preceding the 1MSP, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, urged states to move ‘from mutually assured destruction to mutually assured disarmament’ under the TPNW.3
At the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August 2022, New Zealand expressed concern that ‘the nuclear-weapon states and many of their allies are doubling down on deterrence’. ‘More nuclear weapons – whether in the hands of the existing nuclear-weapon states or others – will not make us safer,’ it said.4
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2022, Ardern said: ‘The only way to guarantee our people that they will be safe from the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons is for them not to exist. That’s why Aotearoa New Zealand calls on all states that share this conviction to join the [TPNW].’5
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, New Zealand described the 1MSP as ‘a rare bright spot and a timely opportunity to reiterate our unequivocal rejection of nuclear weapons’.6
Recommendations
- New Zealand should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
- New Zealand should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.