Treaties/Conventions
Listed below are key treaties and conventions adopted by the international community to regulate the development, stockpiling and use of weapons of mass destrution and conventional weapons.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty entered into force on March 5, 1970. It is the principle international treaty preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, 190 states are party to the treaty. There are three main pillars to the treaty, non-proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The treaty classifies states as Nuclear Weapons States and Non-Nuclear Weapons States. The treaty puts a freeze on the development of nuclear technology for military purposes by non-nuclear weapons states. In addition, nuclear weapons states are required under the treaty to take steps to disarm their nuclear weapons stockpiles The treaty also allows for the transfer of nuclear technology to non-nuclear states for peaceful purposes.
The Biological Weapons Convention was the first multilateral treaty banning the production of an entire category of a weapon. It outlaws the development, production and stockpiling of biological agents or toxins. The treaty which entered into force March 26, 1975, has been signed by 156 states.
The Chemical Weapons Convention outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Entering into force April 29, 1997 the treaty requires all signatories to destroy any chemical weapon stockpile in their state. 182 states are party to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) entered into force on December 2, 1983 and seeks to prohibit the use of conventional weapons deemed excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects. Some of the weapons outlawed by the treaty include: incendiary weapons, fragmentation weapons, landmines and laser weapons.
The Ottawa Treaty, also known as the Mine Ban Convention, bans the use of anti-personnel land mines. It outlaws the production, stockpiling, and transferring of land mines from one party to another. Parties are also required to destroy and demobilize existing landmines. 153 states are party to the treaty. The treaty came into force March 1, 1999.
