Eleven member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) convened from 25 to 27 February in Bridgetown, Barbados, to discuss the benefits and challenges of becoming party to the key international legal instruments in the area of nuclear security: the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and its Amendment, as well as the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT). The workshop was organized by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in cooperation with the IAEA.
In his opening remarks to the workshop, Jerome Walcott, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, explained: “These two conventions have an important role to play in the maintenance of international peace and security by seeking to foster cooperation amongst UN Member States, thereby ensuring the safety of their citizens while eliminating the dreadful scourge of terrorism.”
Even though most of the countries in the region have no nuclear material or nuclear facilities, participants highlighted several benefits of joining the conventions, including enhanced regional security and strengthened international cooperation, assistance and information exchange to prevent and combat acts of nuclear terrorism and other criminal offences involving nuclear and other radioactive material and facilities. This is a key element of the CPPNM and its Amendment, which in addition to requiring parties to establish and maintain an appropriate physical protection regime for nuclear material and nuclear facilities used for peaceful purposes, provide a basis for international cooperation, for example, in conducting investigations and criminal proceedings related to specified criminal offences as well as in the recovery and protection of nuclear material following commission of a crime or threat thereof.
Supporting universal adherence to and effective implementation of the CPPNM as amended is a priority for the IAEA. Speaking at the opening session of the workshop, Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, Director of the IAEA Division of Nuclear Security, underlined the central role of the IAEA in facilitating and coordinating international cooperation to strengthen nuclear security as well as the IAEA’s role in facilitating regional activities.
Participants considered some challenges to becoming party to the CPPNM and its Amendment and ICSANT, including lack of awareness among decision-makers regarding the importance of the conventions and oftentimes insufficient human capacity to draft the necessary implementing legislation and regulations. These types of workshops raise awareness on the importance of becoming parties and to develop the necessary knowledge on the requirements of the conventions to assist with national implementation.
To this end, IAEA representatives also drew attention to its legislative and nuclear security assistance programmes, which help member States, upon request, to develop and implement national nuclear security regimes. One important tool that the Agency uses to support its Member States is the Integrated Nuclear Security Support Plan (INSSP), which assists States in identifying their nuclear security needs based on IAEA guidance documents. The guidance is consistent with the international legal instruments relevant to nuclear security, and can assist States with implementing obligations they have under inter alia the CPPNM as amended, ICSANT, and UN Security Council Resolution 1540.
Mr. Walcott said: “We will willingly and according to our means and our resources, join with regional and international partners to work together in preventing acts of terror and the misuse of nuclear material, thereby making sure that our region remains a zone of peace.”
These two conventions have an important role to play in the maintenance of international peace and security by seeking to foster cooperation amongst UN Member States, thereby ensuring the safety of their citizens while eliminating the dreadful scourge of terrorism.
