Note to Correspondents

PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR 2010 NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY REVIEW CONFERENCE

TO MEET IN VIENNA, 30 APRIL - 11 MAY

The Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons will hold its first session from 30 April to 11 May at the Austria Centre in Vienna, Austria.  This is the first of three sessions of the Preparatory Committee that will be held prior to the 2010 Review Conference.

This session, which is open to all parties to the Treaty, observer States, specialized agencies, international and regional intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations, will address substantive and procedural issues related to the Treaty and the upcoming Review Conference in 2010.

The Chairman designate of the first session is Ambassador Yukiya Amano of Japan.

The purpose of the session is to prepare for the Review Conference in terms of assessing the implementation of each article of the Treaty and facilitating discussion on any issue raised by parties to the Treaty with a view to making recommendations to the Review Conference.

The Treaty, which entered into force in 1970 and was extended indefinitely in 1995, requires that review conferences be held every five years.

The Treaty is regarded as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.  It is designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to further the goal of nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament, and to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

For accreditation and further information, including for the film and photo opportunity on 30 April, please contact Veronika Crowe-Mayerhofer, Public Information Assistant, UNIS Vienna; telephone: +43 1 260 60 3342; e-mail: veronika.crowe-mayerhofer@unvienna.org.

Some meetings of the conference will be closed to the media.  Further information on the preparatory sessionmaybe found at http://disarmament.un.org/wmd/npt/NPT2010/index.html.

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For information media • not an official record