SECOND SESSION OF PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR 2010 NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

REVIEW CONFERENCE CONCLUDES WITH ADOPTION OF REPORT

 

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 9 May (Office for Disarmament Affairs) -- The Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) held its second session from 28 April to 9 May at the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland.  Chaired by Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko of Ukraine, this is the second 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.  The Committee decided to hold its third session in New York from 4 to 15 May 2009, and the Review Conference, also in New York, from 26 April to 21 May 2010.  The Committee decided to elect Ambassador Boniface Guwa Chidyausiki of Zimbabwe as Chairman of the third session of the Committee.

The Committee held constructive discussions on substantive issues in a positive atmosphere.  During a general exchange of views on all aspects of the Treaty, 47 statements were made.  Nine meetings were dedicated to discussion on the following three clusters of issues: 1) nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and international security; 2) nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear-weapon-free zones and safeguards; and 3) the peaceful use of nuclear energy.  Also discussed were nuclear disarmament and security assurances; regional issues, including the resolution on the Middle East adopted by the 1995 Review Conference; and other provisions of the Treaty, including the issue of withdrawal.

During the substantive discussions, 175 statements were made.  One meeting was dedicated to the presentation of views by non-governmental organizations and 15 statements were made there.

Pursuant to paragraph 7 of “Improving the Effectiveness of the Strengthened Review Process for the Treaty” in the Final Document of the 2000 NPT Review Conference (NPT/CONF.2000/28), the consideration of the issues at the second session of the Preparatory Committee was factually summarized.  That summary will be issued as the Chairman’s Working Paper and posted on the website of the Second Session of the 2010 Preparatory Committee.

Representatives from 106 States parties participated in the work of the second session of the Preparatory Committee.  Representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also attended the session.  Representatives of the following specialized agencies and international and regional organizations participated in the session as observers: the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), the European Commission, the League of Arab States and the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC).  The Office for Disarmament Affairs provided secretariat support.  Representatives of 64 non-governmental organizations also attended the meetings of the Committee.

Further information may be found at http://www.un.org/NPT2010/SecondSession, and also by contacting Ewen Buchanan, Information Officer, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, New York, at +1 212 963 3022, e-mail: buchanane@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record