New Zealand
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of New Zealand, Nanaia Mahuta, warned of the heightened nuclear risks associated with the ongoing war in Ukraine. ‘Nuclear weapons must never be used,’ she said. ‘We must be unequivocal in our determination to reduce nuclear threats, and do so immediately. The dangers of nuclear weapons and their toxic legacy – which are visible in our own Blue Pacific region – have been with us for decades.’[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (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 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 7 (57%) |
| 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 (29 Feb 1972) |
| 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
In a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2023, New Zealand said that the TPNW ‘is playing an important role in strengthening international humanitarian law and the global norm against nuclear weapons’. It urged all States that have not yet joined it to do so.2
New Zealand participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023, where it stated: ‘The TPNW is one of the few bright spots in the effort towards nuclear disarmament. … States parties to the TPNW – and a majority of the international community – set about achieving a landmark Treaty that would collectively start to turn back the tide that has run against nuclear disarmament efforts. … We remain a long way from a world in which nuclear weapons are diminished in salience for all States, let alone totally eliminated. … But the work of the TPNW gives us the most hope for actually achieving the total elimination of nuclear weapons. This goal, and this Treaty, is something to which we must all remain staunchly committed.’3
At the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) in 2022, New Zealand and Mexico were appointed as co-chairs of an informal working group on implementation of Article 4, in particular work related to the future designation of a competent international authority or authorities that would negotiate and verify the elimination of nuclear-weapon programmes. They reported on their activities to the 2MSP.4 New Zealand will continue to serve in this capacity, alongside Malaysia, leading up to the third meeting in 2025.
New Zealand was one of the co-sponsors for the 2023 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
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New Zealand should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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New Zealand should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.