As a result of the intensive negotiations lasted for the past 7 years, the five Central Asian States (the C5 includes the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan) concluded their negotiations and adopted the Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ) Treaty and the attached Protocol on 8 February 2005, in Tashkent, the Republic of Uzbekistan. The two documents were initialed by the heads of the five delegations who were authorized to take an action on behalf of respective governments.

On September 8, 2006, the Foreign Ministers of the C5 are expected to sign the treaty on establishment of the zone.

Read the joint statement of the C5 delivered at the Conference of States parties and Signatories of Treaties that Establish Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones in Tlatelolco, Mexico, April 26-28, 2005

Read the statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Conference of States parties and Signatories of Treaties that Establish Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones in Tlatelolco, Mexico, April 26-28, 2005

The CANWFZ Treaty consists of a preamble, 18 Articles and the attached protocol. The Treaty reflects recent developments in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The following are the unique characteristics of the CANWFZ.

(a) A former nuclear weapon state (Kazakhstan) is included.

(b) The CANWFZ consists of all land locked states.

(c) The CANWFZ directly shares borders with both China and Russia,
nuclear-weapon States.

(d) It attaches great importance to environmental issues.

(e) It is the first NWFZ treaty to include provisions that oblige its State
Parties to fully comply to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and Additional Protocol regarding IAEA’s strengthened safeguards.

(f) The UN has been directly involved in the drafting process from the
beginning according to the mandate given by UN General Assembly resolutions.

One of the most important principles of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone is that it should be created on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the states of the region concerned (para.20 Annex I of A/54/42, 1999 UNDC Document). This means an initiative of the establishment of a NWFZ should be free from the pressure, coercion and interference of the third parties.

With the decision of designating Kyrgyzstan as the depositary, the importance of this principle was reaffirmed by the C5. In producing the adopted texts, the C5 examined and took into account some proposals of the nuclear-weapon States and the alternatives presented by the IAEA and the OLA.

In their joint statement adopted in Tashkent (A/59/733, S/2005/155), the C5 expressed their desire to sign the Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty as soon as possible. The C5 decided Semipalatinsk, the Republic of Kazakhstan as the site of the signing ceremony.

The important contribution of nuclear-weapon-free zones to the strengthening of the international non-proliferation regime and to regional and world peace and security has been universally recognized (para.19 Annex I of A/54/42 1999 UNDC Document, para.6 Article VII of NPT/CONF.2000/28 2000 NPT Final Document). Thus, the adoption of the CANWFZ Treaty is welcoming news to the international community on the eve of the 2005 NPT Review Conference.

The international community is expected to encourage and support the C5 to sign the CANWFZ Treaty as soon as possible and also continue to promote the creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones around the globe in an effort towards achieving the ultimate goal of freeing the entire world from all nuclear weapons so that future generations can live a more stable and peaceful atmosphere (para.45 Annex I of A/54/42, 1999 UNDC Document) .

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