Tunisia
Tunisia voted in favour of adopting the TPNW at the UN Diplomatic Conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2023. Tunisia maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes (observer) |
| 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 2009, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1970) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2004) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1973) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (13 Mar 1990) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | No (Signed 2005) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
In a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2023, Tunisia, on behalf of the African Group, 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 [TPNW] at an early date as well as pursue the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world’.1 In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2023, Tunisia rejected ‘the rise of dangerous nuclear rhetoric and the increasing role of nuclear weapons in military doctrines … as well as the modernisation of nuclear arsenals’. ‘It is vital to rid humanity of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction,’ it said.2
Tunisia observed the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023 but did not make a statement. It maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
In March 2023, as part of the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review process, Tunisia 'noted' a recommendation to ratify the TPNW.3
Recommendations
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Tunisia should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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Tunisia should bring into force its Additional Protocol with the IAEA.