Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Thank you Chair.
We welcome the addition of this special topic to our deliberations and hope to see the constructive and interactive spirit that characterised last year’s Working Group carried though to our discussions today.
New Zealand recalls the Working Paper submitted by the Chair of the Working Group (Working Paper 34) on further strengthening the review process of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons tabled on 3 August 2023. We support many of its recommendations.
In particular, we welcome its specific references to enhanced transparency and accountability in recommendations 16 through 20.
New Zealand, along with our partners Ireland and Switzerland, have been engaging with interested States on enhanced transparency in the NPT, to help accountability on the implementation of nuclear disarmament obligations and commitments.
As many States have already noted this meeting, there is a clear deficit in being able to track progress in this domain. This could have long-term effects on the sustainability and credibility of the Treaty.
Enhanced transparency through a new peer review mechanism would help to improve the confidence of States Parties that nuclear weapon States are implementing their nuclear disarmament obligations and commitments. In this way we see it specifically related to Article VI and its related commitments. Our proposals in this regard are without prejudice to voluntary reporting by other States, or other aspects of NPT implementation.
We will continue these engagements over the course of the next intersessional period, with the aim of achieving additional progress in time for a one-off trial run of an interactive dialogue with a volunteer State, or States, at the 3rd Preparatory Committee meeting in 2025. The aim of this trial would be to finalise proposals the Review Conference could adopt.
We express our thanks to the States with whom we have engaged constructively on these ideas over the past 12 months. We look forward to continuing dialogue with them into 2025 and beyond.
Beyond issues of reporting, my delegation remains strongly committed to the principle of inclusivity in multilateralism, and the NPT is no exception. Of course, there will be some formats and discussions that require closed discussions, and NPT rules provide for that. We would urge States to be as inclusive as possible in our deliberations wherever possible, though. Enabling the critically important contribution civil society give will help us achieve progress in areas that may otherwise seem impossible.
I thank you.