FIRST SESSION OF PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR 2010 NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

REVIEW CONFERENCE ENDS WITH ADOPTION OF REPORT

 

NEW YORK/VIENNA, 11 May (Office of Disarmament Affairs) -- The Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons held its first session from 30 April to 11 May at the Austria Centre in Vienna, Austria.  The session was chaired by Ambassador Yukiya Amano of Japan.  This is the first of three sessions of the Preparatory Committee that will be held prior to the 2010 Review Conference.

The Preparatory Committee successfully concluded its work today with the adoption of its report.  In further preparation for the Review Conference of 2010, the Committee agreed that the second session of the Preparatory Committee would be held in Geneva from 28 April to 9 May 2008.  The Committee unanimously endorsed the candidacy of Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko of Ukraine as the Chairman of the next session of the Committee.  According to past practice, he also served as Vice-Chairman of this session.

Despite a delay in the adoption of its agenda, the Committee held constructive discussions on substantive issues in a notably positive atmosphere, laying a solid foundation for a successful review cycle.  A very considerable number of written proposals were tabled by delegations.  For the first time in the history of the Treaty, the United Nations Secretary-General sent his message to a Preparatory Committee.  During a general exchange of views on all aspects of the Treaty, 47 statements were made.  Six meetings were dedicated to substantive discussion on the following three clusters of issues: 1) nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and international security; 2) non-proliferation, nuclear-weapon-free zones and safeguards; and 3) the peaceful use of nuclear energy.  Also discussed were nuclear disarmament; regional issues, including the resolution on the Middle East adopted by the 1995 Review Conference and reaffirmed in the final document of the 2000 Review Conference; and the safety and security of peaceful nuclear programmes.  During the substantive discussions, 154 statements were made and 2 more were circulated.  One meeting was dedicated to the presentation of views by non-governmental organizations and seven statements were made there.

Representatives from 106 States parties participated in the work of the first session of the Preparatory Committee.  Representatives of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) attended the session and provided secretarial support.  Representatives of Palestine participated in the work of the Preparatory Committee as an observer.  The following specialized agencies and international and regional organizations were also represented at the meetings of the session as observers: the European Commission, the League of Arab States, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Representatives of 66 non-governmental organizations also attended the meetings of the Committee.

Further information may be found at http://disarmament.un.org/NPT2010, and also by contacting Francois Coutu, Information/Education Officer, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, New York, at 212 963 2874, e-mail: coutu@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record