NPT's 'unequivocal undertaking' for nuke disarmament to be removed: envoy

Japan Policy & Politics, Feb 28, 2005

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 Kyodo

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory members are likely to water down their commitment to nuclear disarmament at an upcoming review conference by abandoning the ''unequivocal undertaking'' they agreed to in 2000, Brazil's disarmament envoy indicated to Kyodo News in a recent interview.

Sergio de Queiroz Duarte, who will chair the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York in May, said the signatories will ''probably'' refrain from adopting the same wording as used in the previous meeting in confirming the nuclear states' commitment to nuclear disarmament during the upcoming meeting.

But he also expressed confidence that the signatories' position on the commitment will basically remain intact. ''Maybe (it will be) worded differently, but I don't think the commitments by the U.S., by nuclear states or by the rest of the parties...have changed.''

The ''unequivocal undertaking'' was the centerpiece of the 13 steps agreed on by the signatories in 2000 to implement the NPT. But the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has been reluctant to take these steps, with Undersecretary of State John Bolton declaring last year that the pledge was invalid.

The expected toning down of the commitment apparently reflects the U.S. stance and is likely to draw criticism from nonnuclear states, which are demanding that the commitment be upheld, analysts say.

Due to the standoff between nuclear and nonnuclear signatories, discussion topics for the review conference have yet to be decided. But Duarte said he is confident that the signatories will reach consensus on the topics by the end of April.

The ambassador spoke to Kyodo News in Washington after he met with senior officials of the Bush administration. He has been touring major signatory countries since mid-January to seek consensus.

The review conference is also expected to discuss ways to make it more difficult for signatories to pull out of the treaty, apparently in light of North Korea's declaration in January 2003 of its withdrawal from the NPT.

Duarte said a few proposals have been studied, including holding an emergency conference by member states in the event of a pullout, establishing a framework for diplomatic efforts to convince a withdrawing country to return before the withdrawal is finalized following a 90-day period, and requiring signatories to continue to fulfill certain obligations set under the treaty even after their pullout.

In the 2000 review conference, 187 signatories to the NPT adopted the final document, which includes the 13 steps to nuclear disarmament to be implemented by the five nuclear powers -- the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia -- as well as nonnuclear weapon states.

But U.S. officials have described the accord as a ''simply historical document'' and said a new document should reflect drastic changes in international security conditions, including the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

The NPT, which was signed in 1968 and entered into force in 1970, is reviewed every five years.

Analysts are concerned that backtracking of the treaty may lead to possible nuclear proliferation, such as encouraging nonnuclear states to start developing nuclear arms and follow the footsteps of India and Pakistan, neither of which is an NPT signatory, which conducted nuclear tests in 1998.