Ambassador Amano chaired the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the NPT
Ambassador Yukiya Amano chaired the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) held in the Austria Center, Vienna, from 30 April to 11 May 2007.
The NPT regime is being seriously challenged by a lack of confidence resulting from DPRK and Iranian nuclear issues, slow progress in nuclear disarmament, and failure of entry into force of the CTBT, among other issues.
In this situation, the First Session of the Preparatory Committee was indeed meaningful as an instrument to pave the way for the future course of discussions through adoption of an agenda, not only for this First Session, but also for the time leading up to the final round of the Preparatory Committee in 2009.
In the first week, the Preparatory Committee faced difficulties in adopting agenda, however, after intensive informal consultations the agenda was finally adopted on 8 May 2007.
The First Session turned out to be a large-scale international conference; representatives from 106 member states to the NPT, the UN and IAEA, as well as representatives of 66 NGO's attended and presented their views on the 2010 NPT Review Conference.
At the session, the three pillars of NPT, namely nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and peaceful use of nuclear energy, as well as other specific issues, such as security assurances, regional issues and withdrawal from the NPT, were taken up and discussed. Considering the challenges facing the NPT regime today, it is remarkable that such substantial discussions on these various issues took place at the First Session in a balanced and constructive manner.
The Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2010 NPT Review Conference will be held from 28 April to 9 May 2008 in Geneva.
Below is a breakdown of NPT activities at the last session:
- Statement by H.E. Masakazu Sekiguchi, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan ( April 30, 2007 )
- Statement at Cluster I (May 8, 2007)
- Statement on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education ( Japan’s national capacity) (May 8, 2007)
- Joint Statement on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education (May 8, 2007)
- Statement at Cluster I Specific time (May 9, 2007)
- Statement at Cluster II (May 9, 2007)
- Statement at Cluster II Specific Time (May 10, 2007)
- Statement at Cluster III (May 10, 2007)
- Statement at Cluster III Specific time (May 11, 2007)
- Working Paper of Japan for Submission to the First Session of the Preparatory Committee [PDF]
- Japan’s Efforts in Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education Working Paper Submitted by Japan