Viet Nam
In a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2023, Viet Nam described the universalisation of the TPNW as ‘a very critical measure’.[1] In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2023, it said that the NPT ‘should be complemented by other crucial legally binding instruments’ including the TPNW and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.[2]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (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 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 4 (75%) |
| 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 1996, Bangkok) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1982) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2006, Annex 2 state) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1980) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1998) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (23 Feb 1990) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | Cleared |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Viet Nam participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023, where it called for the continued implementation of the Vienna Action Plan and encouraged States parties to promote ‘the significance of the Treaty through many different activities’, including on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. It also urged all States that have not yet joined the Treaty to do so.3
‘The TPNW is an important agreement to complement existing legal instruments and to strengthen the current non-proliferation and disarmament regime,’ it said. It called upon all nuclear-armed States to fulfil their disarmament obligations, whether within the TPNW framework or outside it. ‘The success and effective implementation of the TPNW depends on the political will and determination of all.’
In relation to its own implementation of the TPNW, it noted that the Vietnamese government issued decree 81 in 2019, which ‘has created an important national legal framework to prevent and counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction’.4
Viet Nam was one of the co-sponsors for the 2023 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’.5
Recommendations
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Viet Nam should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Viet Nam should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.