| First session New York , 8-19 April 2002 Implementation of article VI and paragraph 4 ( c ) of the 1995 Decision on “ Principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament ” Report submitted by Sweden As stated in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons , in the section entitled “ Article VI and eighth to twelfth preambular paragraphs ” , in paragraph 15 , subparagraph 12 , the Conference agreed on : “ Regular reports , within the framework of the strengthened review process for the Non-Proliferation Treaty , by all States parties on the implementation of article VI and paragraph 4 ( c ) of the 1995 Decision on ` Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament ' ” . Sweden would hereby like to submit its report to the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons . Nuclear disarmament The 2000 NPT Review Conference During the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons , Sweden participated in the New Agenda Coalition , which played a role in the final negotiations with the nuclear-weapon States to secure a successful outcome of the Conference . The group had prepared extensively for the Review Conference and had a common position as basis for negotiations . Sweden , as a member of the European Union ( EU ) , also participated in developing a common EU position for the Review Conference . The Union delivered a statement on the basis of the joint position at the Conference . Since the 2000 Review Conference , the New Agenda Coalition has engaged in a constructive dialogue with the nuclear-weapon States on their implementation of the 13 steps agreed to at the Conference on how to achieve nuclear disarmament . In November 2000 , the work of the 2000 Review Conference was followed up at the fifty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly . The New Agenda , coordinated by Sweden , presented a draft resolution ( A/C.1/55/L.4 and Rev.1 , subsequently adopted as resolution 55/33C ) , which reaffirmed the results of the Conference . It received very strong support by Member States and was adopted on 20 November 2000 with only three countries voting against ( India , Pakistan and Israel ) and eight countries abstaining . During the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly , Sweden voted in favour of resolution 55/41 , entitled “ Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty ” , which called for necessary measures to enable the Treaty to enter into force . During spring 2001 , Sweden held the Presidency of the European Union and delivered a statement on behalf of the Union in the Conference on Disarmament calling , inter alia , for the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the commencement of work in the Conference on Disarmament . Sweden strived to advance the European Union work in the spring session of the United Nations Disarmament Commission on the nuclear topic “ Ways and means to achieve nuclear disarmament ” . In October 2001 , the New Agenda decided not to present a resolution in the First Committee of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly . The New Agenda Ministers for Foreign Affairs expressed their views in a Ministerial Communiqué presented on 8 October 2001 in the Committee by the coordinator of the Group , South Africa.1 The Ministers agreed that the priority would be to pursue their initiative in the context of the forthcoming Non-Proliferation Treaty review process beginning in 2002. “ The 2000 NPT undertakings on nuclear disarmament had been given . Implementation of them was now the imperative . ” In November 2001 , the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs , Ms. Anna Lindh , participated in the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty . Ms. Lindh held a national statement in the plenary , which dealt with nuclear disarmament in general and with the Treaty in particular . In the margins of the conference , Sweden , together with Canada and Australia , financed a seminar , organized by the United Kingdom-based NGO VERTIC , to promote the verification system of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty , the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization ( CTBTO ) in Vienna . Foreign Minister Lindh made an introductory statement , expressing strong support for CTBTO and its capacity to verify the Treaty . Furthermore , Ms. Lindh also gave a speech in the General Assembly in November 2001.2 A significant section of the Swedish speech was devoted to nuclear disarmament . In November 2001 , the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs , in a press statement , welcomed the announcements by the United States of America and the Russian Federation concerning planned reductions in their strategic nuclear weapons arsenals . She also expressed hope that the reductions would be irreversible , transparent and verifiable . In December 2001 , Foreign Minister Anna Lindh issued a press statement expressing concern about the potential negative consequences the unilateral withdrawal by the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty could have on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and urging the United States to continue its consultations , in particular with the Russian Federation and China respectively . Preparations for the session of the Preparatory Committee in 2002 In autumn 2001 , Sweden , through Ambassador Henrik Salander , Permanent Representative of Sweden to the Conference on Disarmament , was appointed Chair of the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons , to be held in New York in April 2002. During winter and spring 2002 , Sweden , through Ambassador Salander , prepared for the first session of the Preparatory Committee by consulting with all States parties to the Treaty . Sweden also participated actively in the New Agenda 's preparations for the Preparatory Committee session . A position paper was drafted stating fundamental principles of nuclear disarmament , taking stock of the developments since the 2000 Review Conference and making short-term and long-term suggestions for the way ahead . The New Agenda also prepared statements to be held in the general debate and in the cluster debate about nuclear disarmament and released a press statement preceding the opening of the Preparatory Committee session . The New Agenda will continue to be active in the period leading up to the opening meeting of the First Committee of the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session . In spring 2002 , the European Union prepared a Statement to be delivered on behalf of the Union at the first session of the Preparatory Committee , during the general debate . Conference on Disarmament The Conference on Disarmament has not been able to agree on a programme of work and has thus remained idle in the period following the 2000 Review Conference . Several decisions of the Conference included in the 13-step action plan have therefore not yet materialized : the commencement of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty and consideration of the questions of nuclear disarmament in subsidiary bodies of the Conference on Disarmament . In February 2002 , the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs , Ms. Anna Lindh , spoke in the Conference on Disarmament . The speech covered the whole disarmament agenda : weapons of mass destruction as well as conventional weapons . A significant part of the speech was devoted to nuclear disarmament , emphasizing issues such as an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty , universality of and compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty , the principle of irreversibility in nuclear reductions , etc. Ms. Lindh also called upon the Conference on Disarmament to agree on a programme of work and expressed Sweden 's readiness to accept the Amorim proposal in order to start negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty as well as to start dealing with nuclear disarmament and the prevention of an arms race in outer space . In February 2002 , the European Union , under the Presidency of Spain , delivered a statement in the Conference on Disarmament calling for the commencement of work in the Conference . Destruction of nuclear weapons The primary responsibility for the destruction of nuclear weapons rests with the countries concerned , i. e. the nuclear-weapon States . Sweden believes , however , that international cooperation is essential . Thus Sweden has agreed , on invitation , to participate as an observer in the successor group to the G8 Plutonium Disposition Planning Group . The new group will be launched in the near future . Sweden agrees with the G8 Group that it is critical to ensure that excess weapons-grade plutonium resulting from arms reduction is managed and disposed of in such a way that it can no longer be available for future use or diversion for nuclear weapons . Sweden has a great deal of expertise available in the fields of nuclear safety , safeguards and nuclear fuel and waste management . Thus Sweden has been able to provide cooperation and assistance to Russia and other countries members of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the field of nuclear non-proliferation , including : regulatory frameworks , material accounting and protection , export/import controls and management of spent nuclear fuel ( e. g. from Russian submarines and ice-breakers ) . Most of this takes place in cooperation with other countries , the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency . Sweden also has taken an active part in conferences organized under the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Cooperation Initiative and its predecessor the Expanded Threat Reduction Initiative . Sweden has been contributing from the outset to the International Science and Technology Centre in Moscow and was one of the funding parties of the Science and Technology Centre in Ukraine . These two centres were set up to provide former Soviet weapon scientists with employment opportunities in the civilian sector . Safeguards Agreement Before Sweden became a member of the European Union in 1995 , the safeguards agreement requirement by article III of the NPT was satisfied by the Safeguards Agreement between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Sweden.3 In the context of Sweden 's accession to the European Union , notifications to the Agency by Sweden and by the European Atomic Energy Community , as required by the Safeguards Agreement between non-nuclear-weapon States of the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community , and the Agency,4 were received by the IAEA on 24 May 1995. For practical accounting purposes , as proposed in the notifications , the Agreement came into force with regard to Sweden on 1 June 1995.5 On the same date , the previous Swedish Safeguards Agreement with the Agency was suspended.6 With regard to the Additional Protocol , Sweden , as a member of the European Union , has fulfilled its own requirements for entry into force . Additional Protocols for the EU member States will enter into force on the date when the Agency receives written notification from the EU States and Euratom that their respective requirements for entry into force have been met . Illicit trafficking In May 2001 , Sweden hosted an International Conference on illicit trafficking of fissile material and other radioactive sources and physical protection . The Conference , with participants from 70 countries , was organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate . Export control As a supplier of nuclear commodities , Sweden participates in the Zangger Committee and the Nuclear Suppliers Group . The implementation of our obligation under article III , paragraph 2 , of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is ensured by means of controlling exports from Sweden in accordance with EU Council regulation ( EC ) 1334/2000 . In the view of Sweden , an effective domestic export control system also facilitates cooperation for peaceful purposes in the nuclear field . Nuclear energy for peaceful purposes Traditionally Sweden attaches great importance to the Agency 's Technical Cooperation Programme . Over the years , Sweden has paid its full target share to the Technical Cooperation Fund , and Sweden also hosts a number of technical and scientific visits for students from developing countries . Regional treaties At the fifty-fifth and fifty-sixth sessions of the United Nations General Assembly , Sweden voted in favour of resolutions and decisions calling for regional nuclear-weapon-free zones . They are : • Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East — resolutions 55/30 and 56/21 ; • Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia — resolution 55/33 W and decision 56/412 ; • Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas — resolutions 55/33 I and 56/24 G ; • Consolidation of the regime established by the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean ( Treaty of Tlatelolco ) — resolutions 55/39 and 56/30 ; • African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty ( Treaty of Pelindaba ) — resolution 56/17 . Notes 1 A/C.1/56/4 , annex . 3 Agreement of 14 April 1975 between the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ( INFCIRC/234 ) . 4 Agreement between Belgium , Denmark , the Federal Republic of Germany , Greece , Ireland , Italy , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Portugal , the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ( INFCIRC/193 ) . 5 INFCIRC/193/Add.5 . 6 INFCIRC/234/Mod.1 . |