Trinidad and Tobago
Addressing the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022, Trinidad and Tobago said that the TPNW ‘is a decisive, positive step towards achieving a world safe and secure from mutually assured destruction.’[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 (2023) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 2 (0%) |
| 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 1970, Tlatelolco) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1986) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2010) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2007) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 1997) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (4 Nov 1992) |
| 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
Marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2022, the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, Amery Browne, encouraged states that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the TPNW. ‘Trinidad and Tobago regards the TPNW as a decisive, progressive step towards ridding the world of the ominous threat of nuclear confrontation, whether by calculation or by error,’ he said.2
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Trinidad and Tobago highlighted its participation in the 1MSP and the adoption of an action plan and declaration.3
Trinidad and Tobago was one of the co-sponsors for the 2022 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.'4
Recommendations
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Trinidad and Tobago should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Trinidad and Tobago should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.
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Trinidad and Tobago should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol with the IAEA, and upgrade to a Modified Small Quantities Protocol.