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Group of Eminent Persons Conference makes recommendations for enhancing NPT regime

by Kyosuke Mizukawa and Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writers

On March 27, the Foreign Ministry of Japan held the second session of the Group of Eminent Persons Conference in Tokyo to explore ways to advance nuclear disarmament. The participants in the conference concluded the two-day meeting after compiling recommendations that focused on the enhancement of the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) regime, which stipulates the nuclear weapon states’ obligation to negotiate nuclear disarmament. They will publicize the full text of their recommendations within a few days and submit them to Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kono. The Japanese government will reflect the ideas and opinions that came out of the conference in the discussion at the second Preparatory Committee of the 2020 NPT Review Conference to be held in Geneva, Switzerland in late April.

At a press conference after the meeting, Takashi Shiraishi, the chair of the conference and the former president of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, explained the main points of the recommendations. Taking into account the rift between the non-nuclear weapon states that promote the nuclear weapons ban treaty from the perspective of the inhumanity of nuclear arms and the nuclear weapon states and their allies that emphasize nuclear deterrence from the perspective of security, he presented three action plans to bridge the gap between the two sides: enhancing the NPT regime in which nuclear weapon states increase transparency regarding their nuclear arsenals; building trust among nations; and developing measures to verify the achievement of nuclear disarmament.

Mr. Shiraishi said, “Amid the extremely challenging environment which each country faces concerning nuclear weapons issues, all the participants were strongly determined to reach some unanimous agreement.” Yasuyoshi Komizo, one of the meeting participants and the chairperson of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, who also attended the press conference, commented on the conference recommendations: “Considering the long distance toward a legal ban on nuclear weapons, it cannot be said that the conference was a total success, but at the very least, it was an important step.”

The first session of the Group of Eminent Persons Conference was held in the city of Hiroshima in November, 2017, and 16 experts from 10 countries including both nuclear-armed states, their allies, and non-nuclear states that support the nuclear weapons ban treaty, served as committee members. The recommendations concluded at the second session will be submitted to Japan’s Foreign Ministry, and the next conference will be held in fiscal 2018.

(Originally published on March 28, 2018)

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