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Submitted by the Australian Delegation
The Seventh Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum,
Determined to contribute to the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects and to the process of general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control with a view to strengthening international peace and security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations;
Recognising the centrality of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to the above objective and appreciating the indefinite extension of the Treaty in 1995;
Welcoming the measures and decisions taken by the International Atomic Energy Agency to maintain and strengthen the effectiveness and cost efficiency of the safeguards system in conformity with the Agency's statute, in particular stressing the importance of the Model Additional Protocol approved on 15 May 1997;
Looking forward to the early entry into force of the Treaty on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START II) and welcoming the Joint Statement on Parameters on future reduction of nuclear forces issued by President Clinton of the United States of America and President Yeltsin of the Russian Federation on 21 March 1997 in Helsinki, Finland;
Welcoming initiatives of other nuclear weapon states to reduce their nuclear arsenals, most recently by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
Recognising that the cessation of all nuclear testing will contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects, and to the process of nuclear disarmament leading to the ultimate objective of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons;
Recalling that the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was adopted by the United Nations on 10 September 1996 and opened for signature on 24 September 1996;
Bearing in mind the recent nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, which pose a challenge to international efforts to strengthen the global regime of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons;
Welcoming the decision of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to establish an Ad Hoc Committee which shall negotiate on the basis of the Report of the Special Coordinator in 1995 and the mandate contained therein, a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;
Calls upon all APPF member States and all other States to redouble their efforts to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
Reaffirms the importance for all States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to fulfil their obligations under the Treaty;
Calls upon all States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to make their best efforts for the success of the next Review Conference, which will be held in the year 2000;
Urges States not parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to accede to it at the earliest possible date and to place all their nuclear material and facilities under comprehensive IAEA Safeguards and to conclude promptly, pending their adherence to the NPT, additional protocols to those safeguards agreements;
Urges the rapid and universal implementation of the IAEA's Strengthened Safeguards System by all APPF member countries and other parties and the conclusion of additional protocols by all States and other parties without delay;
Welcomes the ongoing efforts in the dismantlement of nuclear weapons, and notes the importance of the safe and effective management of the resultant fissile materials.
Urges the Russian Federation and the United States to commence negotiations on a START III agreement immediately after the Russian Federation's ratification of START II, thereby fulfilling the commitments they undertook in the joint statement issued in Moscow on 2 September 1998;
Calls for the early signature and ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty by all member states with a view to its early entry into force, and cessation of nuclear explosions pending its entry into force as well as continued, determined progress on the implementation of the Treaty, notably the establishment of the verification regime;
Calls for the early conclusion of negotiations, on a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, on the basis of the report of the special coordinator and the mandate contained therein.
Source: http://www.appf.org.pe/meeting/seven/resolu05.htm
28 February 2002
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