No. Date

M128 4 August 1992

AUSTRALIA WELCOMES FRANCE'S RATIFICATION OF THE NUCLEAR  NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Senator Gareth Evans, today  warmly welcomed the announcement by France that it had completed its  formal procedures



for the ratification of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty  (NPT) on 3 August.

"Australia has long urged France to join the NPT," Senator Evans said.

"We are confident that its accession will encourage those few remaining  countries still outside of the Treaty to seek membership."

Senator Evans said that ratification of the NPT was another in a series of very  positive steps in French policy.

Other steps had included a more stringent nuclear supply policy, and a  suspension of nuclear testing in the South Pacific



which Australia very much

hoped would become permanent.

"The NPT has seen a flood of new adherents over the past year including,  importantly, China and South Africa, bringing the total membership to 149,"  Senator Evans said.

"France's ratification means that all five Permanent Members ofthe United  Nations Security Council and all Nuclear Weapon States are now   members of  the Treaty."

Senator Evans said that the NPT was the most widely adhered to and  successful arms control Treaty in existence and was of fundamental  importance to global security. Australia was working strenuously for the  Treaty's indefinite extension. A decision on its future would be taken at the

next NPT conference in 1995.

Senator Evans said he was also looking forward to accession to the NPT by  all the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union, in particular  Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

These Republics had entered into commitments to join the NPT at the earliest  possible time when they signed the Protocol to the Strategic Arms Reduction  Treaty (START) in Lisbon in May.

Senator Evans said that he had written to the Foreign Ministers of those  countries welcoming their commitments under the START Treaty and urging  prompt follow-up action on NPT membership and the submission of all their  nuclear facilities to International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

