South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone: The Treaty of Rarotonga

Treaty Text

Opened for Signature: August 6, 1985
Entered into Force: December 11, 1986
Number of States Parties: 13 (Members of the Pacific Islands Forum - formerly know as South Pacific Forum.  Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau have not signed the treaty yet.)

Bikini Atoll Test. Source:  Harry S. Truman Presidential Library

The South Pacific was once a major testing ground for nuclear weapons. The United States conducted a total of 106 atmospheric and underwater tests including 24 atmospheric nuclear tests on Christmas Island (which belongs to Australia) prior to 1963. The United Kingdom conducted 12 atmospheric tests between 1952 and 1957 on the Australian territories at Maralinga, Emu Field, and Monte Bello Island, six atmospheric nuclear tests on Christmas Island, and three tests on Malden Island. The United States and United Kingdom stopped all testing in the South Pacific after they signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) in 1963. France, however, which did not sign the PTBT, established a nuclear test site at its Centre d'experimentation du Pacifique at Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia and conducted a total of 193 tests in the region between 1966 and 1996. Against this background of nuclear testing in the region, movement toward establishing a South Pacific NWFZ began in 1975, when the South Pacific Forum (SPF) supported New Zealand's proposal to create a NWFZ in the region. The UN General Assembly endorsed this proposal the same year in Resolution 3477. In 1984, the SPF endorsed a set of principles, proposed by Australia, as a basis for establishing a NWFZ. The goals of these principles were to keep the region from becoming an arena for superpower rivalry, to preserve peace and security, and to protect natural resources and the well-being and livelihood of the South Pacific people. In addition to concerns over nuclear weapon tests, the states in the region were concerned about the possible dumping of nuclear waste at sea which would contaminate the marine environment.

The Rainbow Warrior incident increased international outrage against nuclear testing in the region. The members of the SPF negotiated a final treaty text relatively quickly, and the Treaty of Rarotonga was adopted and opened for signature. The treaty entered into force on December 11, 1986, after eight countries (Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Tuvalu, and Samoa) ratified it.

The treaty includes 13 members of the Pacific Islands Forum (formerly know as the South Pacific Forum) - Australia, Cool Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The zone extends horizontally from the west coast of Australia to the boundary of the Latin American NWFZ in the east. The zone of application is explained in the treaty's Annex I. The treaty zone covers an extensive part of the South Pacific, including the region from the equator down to the latitude 60 degrees south, where the Antarctic Treaty already established a completely demilitarized zone. 

The treaty requires each member state not to manufacture, acquire, or possess any nuclear explosive device inside or outside the South Pacific region as defined by the treaty. It also prohibits each member state from seeking or receiving any assistance in the manufacture or acquisition of any nuclear explosive device.

The Treaty of Rarotonga is more comprehensive than the Treaty of Tlatelolco because it prohibits the possession or testing of nuclear explosive devices even for peaceful purposes. This prohibition was included in reaction to India's 1974 detonation of a so-called peaceful nuclear explosive. Since the South Pacific nations were strongly opposed to any form of testing in the region regardless of the purpose, they did not want a loophole in their treaty. The prohibition of all types of nuclear explosives subsequently became a standard used in other NWFZ treaties.

Another original feature of the Treaty of Rarotonga is its prohibition of dumping of radioactive materials at sea anywhere within the zone. The treaty in fact defines the zone as "nuclear free" instead of "nuclear weapon free" because it prohibits dumping of radioactive waste and other radioactive materials.

The Treaty of Rarotonga has three protocols. The first protocol requires the three nuclear weapon states with territories in the region (the United States, France, and the United Kingdom) to apply the treaty's prohibitions to those territories. The second protocol requires the five nuclear weapon states to pledge not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the countries in the NWFZ. Protocol III requires nuclear weapon states not to conduct nuclear testing within the NWFZ. All three nuclear weapon states with territories in the zone have signed these protocols, but not all have ratified them.

The signing of the protocols by the United States and United Kingdom was delayed by France's decision to resume nuclear weapon testing in the region in September 1995. The new testing provoked a strong protest by the people of the Pacific islands and an international campaign recalling the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. France declared a moratorium on nuclear tests at Mururoa in January 1996, and the United States, United Kingdom, and France subsequently signed the protocols on March 25, 1996. With the exception of the United States, all the NWS have ratified the protocols. The United States has not yet ratified because it refuses to accept any limitation on the right of passage of U.S. nuclear-powered vessels or naval vessels carrying nuclear weapons in the region.

This material is produced independently for NTI by the 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 © 2005 by MIIS.