Samoa
Samoa was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force and 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’.1
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | Yes (Ratified 2018) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1975) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2002) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1985, Rarotonga) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1979) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2017) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2002) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| Test | 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 (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (30%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Did not vote |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | No |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | Yes (Original) |
Latest developments
Samoa participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) to the TPNW in November-December 2023. ‘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.’2
Samoa promoted adherence to the TPNW as part of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in 2024 and addressed a meeting of the Human Rights Council in October 2024 on the legacy of nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. ‘Nuclear weapons are an existential threat,’ it said. Only by eliminating them can ‘we guarantee a safer and better future’.3
In a joint statement to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee in July 2024, the states parties to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, including Samoa, said: ‘The scars of nuclear testing continue to mark our people and environment, and reinforce to our countries the unacceptable humanitarian costs and risks posed by nuclear war.’ They expressed their ‘region’s steadfast opposition to nuclear weapons’ while noting the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021.4 The Pacific Islands Forum, of which Samoa is a member, also noted the TPNW’s entry into force in a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024.5
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 (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and upgrade to a modified Small Quantities Protocol (SQP).