Sao Tome and Principe
On 22 September 2022, Sao Tome and Principe ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Ratification of the TPNW is pending. Sao Tome and Principe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in July 2021 that a ratification memorandum for the TPNW had been prepared and would soon be submitted to the Cabinet, after which the approval of the Parliament would be sought.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (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 (2021) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| 1MSP 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) | Did not vote |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No (Signed 1996, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1983) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2022) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1979) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 2003) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | No (Approved 2019) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No (Modified approved 2019) |
| Additional Protocol | No (Approved 2019) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2022, the African Group in the UN, of which Sao Tome and Principe is a member, recalled the entry into force of the ‘landmark’ TPNW and reaffirmed its ‘full support’ for the declaration and action plan adopted at the Treaty's First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP). The African Group, moreover, urged ‘all members of the international community, especially nuclear-weapon states and those under the so-called nuclear umbrella, to seize the opportunity to sign and ratify the Treaty at an early date and to pursue the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world’.2
Recommendations
- Sao Tome and Principe should urgently ratify the TPNW.
- Sao Tome and Principe should bring into force its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol with the IAEA.
1) Communications from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ICAN, 1 July 2021