Samoa
Samoa participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023, which it described as an opportunity to ‘consolidate efforts to advance the implementation of the Treaty’. ‘It is our belief that a total ban of nuclear weapons is the only effective and genuine means to achieve a more peaceful and stable world,’ it said. ‘This is even more evident with the numerous conflicts and wars currently being waged, which make the prospect of nuclear warfare frighteningly realistic.’[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) | 5 (60%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Did not vote |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1985, Rarotonga) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1975) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2002) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2017) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2002) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (22 Jan 1979) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Original) |
| Additional Protocol | No |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At 2MSP, Samoa welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021 and recalled that Samoa had helped to achieve this milestone by being among the first 50 States to ratify or accede to the Treaty. It also noted the TPNW’s complementarity with other elements of the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime and rejected claims that the TPNW establishes a ‘parallel regime’. It encouraged all nuclear-armed States to ratify the TPNW ‘as a matter of urgency’. Recalling the legacy of nuclear testing in the Pacific, Samoa highlighted the importance of the TPNW’s provisions on victim assistance and environmental remediation. ‘Our people and communities continue to bear the burden of transboundary and intergenerational effects left behind by nuclear weapons testing and radioactive contamination,’ it said. It called for the establishment of an international trust fund to support work in this area.2
Samoa 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
Samoa 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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Samoa should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Samoa should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative and other necessary measures.
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Samoa should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol with the IAEA, and upgrade to a modified Small Quantities Protocol.