Preparatory Committee for the 1995 Conference
of the Parties to the Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/15
21 September 1994
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
________________________________________________________________________________________________
PROGRESS REPORT OF THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR THE 1995
CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE TREATY ON THE
NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
INTRODUCTION
1. Pursuant to the decision of the Preparatory Committee at its first session, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 14 May 1993, the Preparatory Committee for the 1995 Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons held its third session at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 12 to 16 September 1994.
2. The following 89 States Parties participated in the work of the Preparatory Committee at its third session:
Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe.
3. In accordance with the decision of the Preparatory Committee at its second session, the following seven States not Parties to the Treaty attended the meetings of the Committee as observers: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Pakistan and Ukraine.
4. In accordance with the decision of the Preparatory Committee at its third session, the following intergovernmental organizations attended the meetings of the Committee as observer agencies: The Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) and the League of Arab States.
5. In accordance with the decision of the Preparatory Committee at its second session, 52 non-governmental organizations attended the meetings of the Committee.
6. A list of all the delegations to the third session of the Preparatory Committee, including States Parties, Observers and Observer Agencies, is contained in Annex I to this report.
7. A list of documents submitted to the Preparatory Committee is attached as Annex II.
8. At its third session the Preparatory Committee held ten formal and a number of informal meetings.
9. Mr. Prvoslav Davinic, Director, Centre for Disarmament Affairs, represented the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Mrs. Hannelore Hoppe, Political Affairs Officer, Centre for Disarmament Affairs, served as Secretary of the Committee. Mr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Assistant Director General for External Relations, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Ms. Jan Priest, Head, Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Policy Section, Division of External Relations, IAEA, Vienna, and Ms. Merle Opelz, Head, IAEA Office in Geneva, represented the Agency.
I. OPENING OF THE SESSION
10. The third session of the Preparatory Committee was opened by Ambassador André Erdös of Hungary, Chairman of its second session. Ambassador Erdös informed the Committee that his predecessor in the Chair, Mr. Jan Hoekema of the Netherlands, had been elected to his country's legislative assembly and had been succeeded by Ambassador Jaap Ramaker who would serve as Vice-Chairman of the Committee. He also noted that, as previously agreed by the Committee, Ambassador Isaac E. Ayewah, Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, would be the Chairman of the third session. Ambassador Erdös then invited Ambassador Ayewah to assume the chairmanship of the third session.
II. DECISIONS ON ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES
11. At its first meeting, on 12 September 1994, the Preparatory Committee adopted the following programme of work:
1. Organization of the 1995 Conference
1.1 Rules of procedure
1.2 Background documentation
1.3 Agenda
1.4 Final document(s)
2. Other business
12. At the same meeting, the Preparatory Committee, with respect to its own organization and methods of work, decided:
(a) Participation:
(i) Intergovernmental organizations
Representatives of intergovernmental organizations should be allowed, upon request, to attend the meetings of the Committee other than those designated closed meetings, to be seated in the Committee behind their organizations' nameplates and to receive documents of the Committee. They should also be entitled, at their own expense, to submit documents to the participants in the Committee.
13. The Committee requested its Chairman to continue consultations on the chairmanship of the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee and to inform on their outcome prior to the beginning of that session. The Committee was informed of the endorsement by the Group of Western European and Other States of the candidature of Ambassador Pasi Patokallio of Finland for chairmanship of the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee. The Group of Non-Aligned
and Other States expressed the view that a decision on the chairmanship of the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee be deferred.
III. ORGANIZATION OF THE 1995 CONFERENCE
14. The Preparatory Committee, in conformity with its task to prepare for the 1995 Conference, considered issues listed under item 1 of its programme of work. It took the following actions:
A. Rules of procedure
15. The Committee decided to establish an open-ended informal working group to continue work on the draft rules of procedure as contained in a paper submitted by the Chairman of the second session. The group held a number of meetings during which considerable progress was made. However, a few remaining issues require further consideration and consultation and therefore, the Committee took note of the paper and agreed to forward the draft rules of procedure as contained in document NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/CRP.2 to the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee for finalization.
B. Background documentation
16. In response to the Committee's request made at its second session, a number of background papers were submitted for the third session by the Secretariats of the United Nations, the IAEA, OPANAL, and the South Pacific Forum.
17. Delegations expressed appreciation for the background papers presented to the session and made a number of comments. The Committee requested the respective Secretariats to amend those papers in the light of comments made in the course of the discussions, to update them to take account of current events in conformity with the general approach adopted at the second session and to submit them to the Conference.
18. Some delegations expressed the view that the paper on the activities of the IAEA relevant to Article IV did not adequately fulfil the requirement to prepare comprehensive background documentation on the implementation of Article IV. Consequently, they requested the Secretariat to produce a further paper on this Article and to present it to the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee. The same delegations proposed that an additional background paper be prepared by the United Nations Secretariat on the legal interpretation of Article X. 2. Other delegations disagreed with these proposals. The Committee therefore decided to remit them to its fourth session for further consideration.
C. Agenda
19. The Committee held an extensive exchange of views on the basis of a Chairman's suggested draft agenda of the 1995 Conference. Tentative agreement was achieved on the items to be included in the agenda. However, a group expressed the view that further consideration of the provisions contained under item 16 was needed. The Committee therefore agreed to forward the Chairman's draft agenda as an attachment to this report to the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee for finalization (Annex III).
D. Final document(s)
20. The Committee agreed to defer a decision on the question of the final document(s) of the Conference to its fourth session.
IV. OTHER BUSINESS
21. Under item 2 of its programme of work, the Preparatory Committee had an exchange of views on substantive issues relating to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its 1995 Conference.
22. The delegation of Poland, with full endorsement by the States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons which belong to the Group of Eastern European States, announced the candidature of Ambassador Tadeusz Strulak for the chairmanship of the Drafting Committee of the 1995 Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Annex I
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
(to be added)
Annex II
LIST OF DOCUMENTS
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/1 Programme of work
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/2 Developments since the Fourth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons towards the Realization of the Purposes of the Tenth Preambular Paragraph of the Treaty
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/3 Implementation of Articles I and II of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/4 Developments since the Fourth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons relating to Article VI of the Treaty
NPT/CONF.l995/PC.III/5 Implementation of Article VII of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/6 Developments with regard to Effective International Arrangements to Assure Non-Nuclear-Weapon States against the Use or Threat of Use of Nuclear Weapons
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/7 Activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency relevant to Article III of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/8 Activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency relevant to Article IV of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/9 Activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency relevant to Article V of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/10 Memorandum from the General Secretariat of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean prepared for the Preparatory Committee for the 1995 Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/11 South Pacific Nuclear-Free-Zone Treaty
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/12 Document submitted by Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Mexico, Myanmar and Nigeria
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/13 Letter dated 14 September 1994 from the Head of the Delegation of Indonesia addressed to the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the 1995 Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, transmitting a Document of the Group of Non-Aligned and Other States on Substantive Issues
NPT/CONF.1995/PC.III/14 Letter dated 15 September 1994 from the Head of the German Delegation, Presidency of the European Union, addressed to the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the 1995 Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, transmitting a Document of the European Union on Legal Aspects in connection with the Extension of the NPT
Annex III
Chairman's suggested draft agenda of the 1995 Conference
of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
1. Opening of the Conference by the Chairman of the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee
2. Election of the President of the Conference
3. Statement by the President of the Conference
4. Address by the Secretary-General of the United Nations
5. Address by the Director-General of the IAEA
6. Submission of the Final Report of the Preparatory Committee
7. Adoption of the Rules of Procedure
8. Election of Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the Main Committees, the Drafting Committee and the Credentials Committee
9. Election of Vice-Presidents
10. Credentials of representatives to the Conference
(a) Appointment of the Credentials Committee
(b) Report of the Credentials Committee
11. Confirmation of the nomination of the Secretary-General
12. Adoption of the Agenda
13. Programme of work
14. Adoption of arrangements for meeting the costs of the Conference
15. General debate
16. Review of the operation of the Treaty as provided for in its Article VIII, paragraph 3:
A. Implementation of the provisions of the Treaty relating to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, disarmament and international peace and security:
(1) Articles I and II and preambular paragraphs 1-3
(2) Article VI and preambular paragraphs 8-12
(3) Article VII with specific reference to the main issues in A and B
B. Security assurances:
(1) Resolution 255 (1968) of the United Nations Security Council
(2) Effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons
C. Implementation of the provisions of the Treaty relating to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, safeguards and nuclear-weapon free zones:
(1) Article III and preambular paragraphs 4 and 5, especially in their relationship to Article IV and preambular paragraphs 6 and 7
(2) Articles I and II and preambular paragraphs 1-3 in their relationship to Articles III and IV
(3) Article VII
D. Implementation of the provisions of the Treaty relating to peaceful applications of nuclear energy:
(1) Articles III (3) and IV, preambular paragraphs 6 and 7, especially in their relationship to Article III (1), (2), (4) and preambular paragraphs 4 and 5 as well as to Articles I and II
(2) Article V
E. Other provisions of the Treaty
17. Role of the Treaty in the promotion of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and of nuclear disarmament in strengthening international peace and security and measures aimed at promoting wider acceptance of the Treaty
18. Reports of the Main Committees
19. Decision on the extension of the Treaty as provided for in Article X,paragraph 2
20. Consideration and adoption of Final Document(s)
21. Any other business