MPI Hosts Fourth Meeting of Article VI Forum in Vienna
MPI Event Report
Vienna, Austria
March 29-30, 2007

The fourth meeting of the Article VI Forum, entitled Forging a New Consensus for the NPT, took place at the Vienna International Center in Vienna, Austria, March 29 – 30, 2007. Coming one month before the first meeting of the preparatory committee for the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT ) Review Conference, the consultation focused on the issues that will be central to the preparatory process and the Review Conference itself, including fuel cycle issues, the Comprehensive Test Ban, the Fissile Materials Cut-Off Treaty, and the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East.

This consultation represented “a hope for nuclear disarmament based on a gathering world consensus,” said the Hon. Douglas Roche, O.C., the Chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative, in opening the session. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, in a letter distributed at the consultation, and Ambassador Dorothea Auer, the Director of the Department for Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation in the Austrian Foreign Ministry, also struck a hopeful note. Amb Auer said she hoped the “Vienna Spirit” of non-confrontational and constructive dialogue would take hold and help move the first meeting of the PrepCom along a meaningful path.” In the keynote address, the former UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament, Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, said it was time to “construct a new consensus on the ruins or ashes of the old consensus,” including by restoring the balance among the three pillars of the NPT.

The panel on Fuel Cycle and Proliferation Challenges to the NPT Regime focused on numerous proposals to reduce the proliferation risk by expanding multilateral controls over the fuel cycle. Issues as diverse as the Iraqi program in the 1980s, the clandestine nuclear trade network discovered in 2003, North Korea, the present day concerns surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, and the US-India nuclear deal require multilateral regimes that are binding, equitable and that ensure all states access to fuel. 

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the potential Fissile Materials Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) have been at the top of the international agenda as concrete steps that will help lead to the elimination of nuclear weapons. The expert panelists speaking to the subject of The Viability and Significance of the CTBT and FMCT detailed the value of these legal instruments as effective tools for disarmament and non-proliferation. While the FMCT does not exist and the CTBT is not fully in force, the verification network for the CTBT has already proven its potential when North Korea conducted its nuclear tests in 2006.

The panel on Steps Toward Implementation of the 1995 Middle East Resolution highlighted the hurdles needed to be overcome if any progress is to be made in this crucial piece of the 1995 extension package. The resolution called for the creation of a WMD-free zone in the region. While the concept has been endorsed by all relevant parties, there have been no sustained negotiations on it. The panelists discussed why this was the case and how the conditions could be changed to move this initiative forward.

The rule of law, rather than “ad-hockery,” is essential if there was any hope of building a true NPT consensus, argued the panelists in Towards Security Without Nuclear Weapons: WMD Commission Recommendations. Strengthening treaty regimes, diplomacy based on reciprocity and legitimacy and respect for institutions such as the UN and the International Criminal Court, would lay the foundations for new treaties and international norms, including any that could effectively deal with fuel cycle issues, the panelists said.

While the responsibility to eliminate nuclear weapons naturally lies with the states possessing those weapons, there are numerous Steps Non-Nuclear Weapon States Can Take in the Short Term that were explored in the panel with that title. Panelists highlighted options including Conference on Disarmament negotiations, campaigns by non-nuclear allies of the nuclear weapon states to revise the doctrines to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons, and the strengthening of nuclear weapon free zones.

One element responsible for the failure of the 2005 Review Conference was the inability of delegates to reach agreement early enough on procedural matters. With that in mind, the panelists discussing Strategy and Procedure in the NPT Preparatory Committee focused on the procedural issues that were necessary both to advance the PrepCom’s work and strengthen the review system as a whole. As a point of reference, a key point was the continuing validity of the all the decisions made at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference and the 13 Steps from the 2000 conference. They also took issue with the idea that substantive issues were the responsibility of the Review Conference as well as of the preparatory work.

In his concluding remarks, aptly titled Towards the First NPT PrepCom, Sen. Roche said,  
“We have recognized, the formidable obstacles notwithstanding, there is a near consensus; huge areas of the world, massive majorities of countries, do agree already on steps that need to be taken to reduce the level of nuclear dangers and move the world forward in full implementation of the NPT.” To that end, he said MPI would submit to the first session of the PrepCom a paper dealing with key substantive issues that will be on the Review’s agenda.

The following 19 invited nations were represented: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, South Korea, and Sweden.

Officials of the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Organization also attended. Members of the non-governmental International Panel on Fissile Materials attended an Article VI Forum for the third time.