Trinidad and Tobago
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, Amery Browne, described the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) as ‘crucial foundations of international peace and security aimed at averting the severe humanitarian impacts and environmental devastation that would invariably result from the use of nuclear weapons’.1
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | Yes (Ratified 2019) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1986) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2010) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1970, Tlatelolco) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1992) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2007) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 1997) | |
| 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 (25%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | No |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | Yes (Original) |
Latest developments
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Trinidad and Tobago said that the ‘increasingly volatile international security environment has further illustrated the importance and relevance of the [TPNW]’. It added that ‘the TPNW offers a strong and complementary process in furtherance of the disarmament pathways of the NPT, the CTBT and the treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones’. Trinidad and Tobago also said that it ‘is proud to align itself with the growing number of States that champion this landmark treaty, which places humanitarian concerns at its core – a clear indication of the international community’s rejection of nuclear weapons as acceptable instruments of security’.2
At the same meeting, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which Trinidad and Tobago is a member, reiterated its support for the TPNW and urged ‘all States to engage constructively with this vital legal instrument’.3
Trinidad and Tobago was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the 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’.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 (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and upgrade to a modified Small Quantities Protocol (SQP).