A/RES/63/73 GA

United Nations A/RES/63/73 General Assembly Distr.: General 2008 Sixty-third session Agenda item 89 08-47517 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 2 December 2008 [on the report of the First Committee (A/63/389)] 63/73. Renewed determination towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons The General Assembly, Recalling the need for all States to take further practical steps and effective measures towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, with a view to achieving a peaceful and safe world free of nuclear weapons, and renewing the determination to do so, Noting that the ultimate objective of the efforts of States in the disarmament process is general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control, Recalling its resolution 62/37 of 5 December 2007, Convinced that every effort should be made to avoid nuclear war and nuclear terrorism, Reaffirming the crucial importance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 0F1 as the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, and expressing regret over the lack of agreement on substantive issues at the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as over the elimination of references to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in the World Summit Outcome in 2005, 1F2 the year of the sixtieth anniversary of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, Recalling the decisions and the resolution of the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 2F3 and the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty, 3F4 _______________ 1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 729, No. 10485. 2 See resolution 60/1. 3 See 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, Part I (NPT/CONF.1995/32 (Part I) and Corr.2), annex. 42000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, vols. I-III (NPT/CONF.2000/28 (Parts I-IV)). A/RES/63/73 2 Recognizing that the enhancement of international peace and security and the promotion of nuclear disarmament are mutually reinforcing, Reaffirming that further advancement in nuclear disarmament will contribute to consolidating the international regime for nuclear non-proliferation, which is, inter alia, essential to international peace and security, Taking note of concrete proposals and initiatives on nuclear disarmament, including those put forward or undertaken by nuclear-weapon States, including recently by France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Expressing deep concern regarding the growing dangers posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, inter alia, nuclear weapons, including that caused by proliferation networks, Recognizing the importance of implementing Security Council resolution 1718 (2006) of 14 October 2006 with regard to the nuclear test proclaimed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on 9 October 2006, while taking note of the progress achieved by the Six-Party Talks, 1. Reaffirms the importance of all States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons1 complying with their obligations under all the articles of the Treaty; 2. Stresses the importance of an effective Treaty review process, welcoming the substantive discussions held at the second session of the Preparatory Committee in 2008, and calls upon all States parties to the Treaty to work together to ensure that the third session of the Preparatory Committee, in 2009, is held constructively, in order to facilitate the successful outcome of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; 3. Reaffirms the importance of the universality of the Treaty, and calls upon States not parties to the Treaty to accede to it as non-nuclear-weapon States without delay and without conditions, and pending their accession to refrain from acts that would defeat the objective and purpose of the Treaty as well as to take practical steps in support of the Treaty; 4. Encourages further steps leading to nuclear disarmament, to which all States parties to the Treaty are committed under article VI of the Treaty, including deeper reductions in all types of nuclear weapons, and emphasizes the importance of applying irreversibility and verifiability, as well as increased transparency in a way that promotes international stability and undiminished security for all, in the process of working towards the elimination of nuclear weapons; 5. Calls upon all nuclear-weapon States to undertake reductions of nuclear weapons in a transparent manner, and invites all nuclear-weapon States to agree on transparency and confidence-building measures, while noting in this regard the increased transparency recently demonstrated by nuclear-weapon States on their nuclear arsenals, including the current number of their nuclear warheads; 6. Encourages the Russian Federation and the United States of America to implement fully the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions, 4F5 which should serve as a step for further nuclear disarmament, and to undertake nuclear arms reductions beyond those provided for by the Treaty, including through the conclusion of a _______________ 5 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2350, No. 42195. A/RES/63/73 3 legally binding successor to the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START I), 5F6 which is due to expire in 2009, while welcoming the progress made by nuclear-weapon States, including the Russian Federation and the United States of America, on nuclear arms reductions; 7. Encourages States to continue to pursue efforts, within the framework of international cooperation, contributing to the reduction of nuclear-weapons-related materials; 8. Calls for the nuclear-weapon States to further reduce the operational status of nuclear weapons systems in ways that promote international stability and security; 9. Stresses the necessity of a diminishing role for nuclear weapons in security policies to minimize the risk that these weapons will ever be used and to facilitate the process of their total elimination, in a way that promotes international stability and based on the principle of undiminished security for all; 10. Urges all States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty 6F7 at the earliest opportunity with a view to its early entry into force, stresses the importance of maintaining existing moratoriums on nuclear-weapon test explosions pending the entry into force of the Treaty, and reaffirms the importance of the continued development of the Treaty verification regime, including the international monitoring system, which will be required to provide assurance of compliance with the Treaty; 11. Calls upon the Conference on Disarmament to immediately resume its substantive work to its fullest, considering the developments of this year in the Conference; 12. Emphasizes the importance of the immediate commencement of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty in the Conference on Disarmament and its early conclusion, and calls upon all nuclear-weapon States and States not parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to declare moratoriums on the production of fissile material for any nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices pending the entry into force of the Treaty; 13. Calls upon all States to redouble their efforts to prevent and curb the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery; 14. Stresses the importance of further efforts for non-proliferation, including the universalization of the International Atomic Energy Agency comprehensive safeguards agreements, while also strongly encouraging further works for achieving the universalization of the Model Protocol Additional to the Agreement(s) between State(s) and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards approved by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency on 15 May 1997, 7F8 and the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolution 1540 (2004) of 28 April 2004; _______________ 6 The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, vol. 16: 1991 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.92.IX.1), appendix II. 7 See resolution 50/245. 8 International Atomic Energy Agency, INFCIRC/540 (Corrected). A/RES/63/73 4 15. Encourages all States to undertake concrete activities to implement, as appropriate, the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations study on disarmament and non-proliferation education, submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session, 8F9 and to voluntarily share information on efforts they have been undertaking to that end; 16. Encourages the constructive role played by civil society in promoting nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament; 17. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session an item entitled “Renewed determination towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons”. 61st plenary meeting 2 December 2008 _______________ 9 A/57/124.

UN Project. “A/RES/63/73.” UN Project, https://un-project.org/votes/resolution/A-RES-63-73/. Accessed .

Copy citation