Summary of the 1995 Review and Extension Conference (1995 NPTREC)

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Summary of the 1995
Review and Extension Conference

In 1995, the States Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) met for their fifth Review Conference. The NPT, which entered into force in 1970 called for meetings of the States Parties every five years to review the progress of the goals embodied in the NPT. These goals include nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

The 1995 NPT Review Conference, in addition to the usual work of reviewing the NPT, included an additional importance: whether and how the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty should be extended: for one period, for a rolling set of periods, indefinitely or not at all.

For four weeks the States Parties met, negotiated, discussed and wrangled on the issues of nuclear weapons and disarmament, nuclear power and access to it, and regional securities issues related to the nuclear chain.

On the last day of the Review and Extension Conference, it was decided at a session which lasted until late into the evening the very last day of the 1995 Review Conference to extend the treaty indefinitely and link the extension to a set of Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Disarmament.

Summary of the 1995 Principles and Objectives Documents

The consensus conclusion for the 1995 Review Conference (RevCon) was predicated on the agreement by all states to three documents and a resolution.

Decision 1: Strengthening the Review Process for the Treaty -- one mechanism for this was to expand the timeframe over which the Preparatory Committee meetings would be held. Rather than in the months leading up to the Review Conference, the PrepComs would be held annually for the four years preceding the RevCon, skipping the year directly following the RevCon.
Decision 2: Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament -- including a program for action beginning with:
- the conclusion of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by September 1996;
- immediate negotiations on a treaty banning fissile material production;
- determined pursuit of nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
Decision 3: Extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons -- the NPT is extended indefinitely, given that a majority of the States Parties to the NPT support indefinite extension of the NPT.
Resolution on the Middle East - supports a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East and supports the peace process, calls on Israel as the only remaining Middle East state not a signatory to the NPT to sign the treaty and to calls on all states in the Middle East to work toward a zone free of biological, chemical, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

Summary of NPT Events since the 1995 NPT Review Conference

Four preparatory committee meetings of the NPT States Parties have been held since 1995 as part of the the expanded review process. The meetings have been of mixed results with more failures to agree than agreements.

In terms of the program of action in the principles and objectives document:

the CTBT whose completion was called for in the document has been signed by 155 countries. The entry-into-force provision for the CTBT is complicated, and the United States rejection of ratification for the CTBT in October 1999 places a grim future on the CTBT ever entering into force.
Negotiations for the Fissile Material Production Ban (FISSBAN) have not begun as the work of the multilateral Conference on Disarmament has been stalled since 1996 and the completion of the CTBT.
Determined work on nuclear disarmament has not been fulfilled either, with more money being spent now on nuclear weapons research than at the height of the Cold War.

Among Non-Governmental organizations

There has been quite an evolution among the Non-Governmental Organizations involved in the NPT Process. In 1996, the chair of the PrepCom allowed one afternoon informal session to be dedicated to presentations from NGOs on a wide range of topics. The subjects, number, presenters and content of the presentations were left entirely in the hands of the NGOs.

A process has developed where any groups or individual desiring input into a particular presentation has the opportunity to send in commentary to a convener in the topic and have their opinions represented to the delegations. The speeches given by the NGOs have evolved in clarity over the past five years, with attendance by the delegates increasing over time.

There will be a presentation at the Review Conference by the NGOs, it is likely to take place in the middle of the second week of the Review Conference. Anyone interested in input on the presentations should contact the NGO Committee on Disarmament.