Existing NWFZs

As of September 2007, five treaties following the principles and guidelines adopted by the United Nations have established NWFZs:

• The Treaty of Tlatelolco in Latin America and the Caribbean;
• The Treaty of Rarotonga in the South Pacific;
• The Treaty of Bangkok in Southeast Asia;
• The Treaty of Pelindaba in Africa; (This treaty has not entered into force yet because not all of the African states required to ratify it have done so.)
• The Central Asian NWFZ Treaty.(This treaty signed by the five Central Asian states on September 8, 2006 in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan has not entered force yet.)

In addition to these five NWFZs the Antarctic Treaty, the Outer Space Treaty, the Moon Agreement, and the Seabed Treaty also establish areas free of nuclear weapons.

All these existing NWFZs have several common characteristics:
1. A legal obligation to place all nuclear material and installations under IAEA full-scope safeguards (described in the Non-Proliferation Treaty Tutorial);
2. A clear demarcation of the geographic limits of the zone of application to the territories of member states;
3. A specification of the obligations, rights, and responsibilities of contracting and protocol parties;
4. Promotion of international cooperation in the peaceful applications of nuclear energy under safeguards; and
5. An indefinite duration of the treaty.

Each NWFZ also reflects the history, common interests, and regional relations of the signatory states. This section of the tutorial considers how each of these zones was developed and how each contributes to the objectives of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.

View the "Existing NWFZs" interactive multimedia.

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents.
Copyright © 2007 by MIIS.