ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, 12 Oct. - The Inaugural Meeting of the Executive Committee for the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free (SEANWFZ) was held on 12 October 1999. The Meeting was attended by all ASEAN member countries and was chaired by H.E. Mr. Saroj Chavanaviraj, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand.

In this introductory remarks, H.E. Mr. Saroj Chavanaviraj mentioned that although the meeting was a short one, it was a great significance for ASEAN as it marked an important and symbolic step forward in the implementation of the SEANWFZ Treaty which was signed in Bangkok nearly 4 years ago with the object of advancing the cause of peace and stability in Southeast Asia. He went on to say that the Meeting follows the convening of the Inaugural Meeting of the Commission for SEANWFZ in Singapore during the 32^nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) on 24 July 1999, at which the ASEAN Foreign Ministers assigned important tasks for the Executive Committee to implement the letter and spirit of the SEANWFZ Treaty. He pledged that Thailand as the first chairman of the Executive Committee will be fully committed to fulfilling its mandate and to establish a sound foundation for the effective conduct for the Executive Committee’s work in the years to come.

The SEANWFZ Treaty provides that Treaty Parties would not possess, test or use nuclear weapons within the Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, nor allow any other state to do likewise. The Treaty Parties also undertake not to dump or allow any other state to dump radioactive materials or wastes. The Treaty also has a Protocol which allows the five Nuclear Weapon States, namely China, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia to associate themselves with the Treaty. At present the Treaty Parties are consulting with the Nuclear Weapon State with a view to obtaining their signature to the protocol.

The Treaty contains many new elements which go beyond the provisions of the other Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones. These new elements are part of the attempt of the Treaty Parties to reflect some of progress made in recent years in international discussions on nuclear disarmament. For the first time, the Treaty also provides an important role for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in ensuring compliance with Treaty provisions.

The Meeting agreed to establish a subsidiary body called the Working Group of the Executive Committee, the composition of which would be at the discretion of each ASEAN member country. The Working Group would deal with all matters relating to SEANWFZ and the implementation of the SEANWFZ Treaty.

In view of the important role of the IAEA in verifying compliance with Treaty provisions, the Meeting agreed that Thailand, as Chairman of the Executive Committee, would write to the AIEA to launch a dialogue with the organization and to conduct preliminary discussions with the IAEA.