Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea voted in favour of the adoption of 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. Papua New Guinea 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) | No |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| 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 (Acceded 1982) |
| Ratified the CTBT | No (Signed 1996) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1980) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1996) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (13 Oct 1983) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Modified) |
| Additional Protocol | No |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At a Pacific Roundtable hosted by New Zealand on 7 December 2021, Papua New Guinea stated that it hoped to become a state party to the TPNW soon.1 Approval by the Parliament is pending.
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, the Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, John Rosso, expressed support for the UN Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace. ‘We are seriously concerned about moves by certain countries for the use of nuclear weapons,’ he said. ‘Such threats are unacceptable and therefore condemned in the strongest terms.’2
Recommendations
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Papua New Guinea should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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Papua New Guinea should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol with the IAEA.
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Papua New Guinea should also ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).