Panama
At the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting in August 2023, Panama said that, ‘as a peace-loving country’, it has joined ‘the current treaties for the elimination and prohibition of all types of weapons of mass destruction’, including the TPNW. It described the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW in 2022 as ‘a historic milestone for nuclear disarmament and for the full fulfilment of the obligations established in Article VI of the NPT’.[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 |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 5 (60%) |
| 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 1971, Tlatelolco) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1977) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1999) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1974) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1998) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (23 Mar 1984) |
| 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
Panama participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023 but did not make a statement.
Panama 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’.3
Panama also promoted adherence to the TPNW as part of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in 2023
Recommendations
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Panama should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Panama should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.