24 August 2005 – Ambassador Victor G. Garcia III of the Philippine Embassy in Vienna, Austria, and Resident Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that delegates from 89 countries – including the Philippines – agreed on 8 July 2005 to fundamental changes that will substantially strengthen the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM).

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed the agreement, saying, “this new and stronger treaty is an important step towards greater nuclear security by combating, preventing, and ultimately punishing those who would engage in nuclear theft, sabotage or even terrorism. It demonstrates that there is indeed a global commitment to remedy weaknesses in our nuclear security regime.”

Ambassador Garcia led the Philippine delegation that supported a Basic Proposal spearheaded by Austria on behalf of 25 other like-minded states.  The Philippines also supported the Norwegian-proposed amendment to Article 7 of the Convention that seeks to include “damage to environment” as punishable acts under the CPPNM, reflecting the Philippines’ proactive policies on the environment.

Ambassador Garcia said that the amended CPPNM makes it legally binding for States Parties to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage as well as transport.   The draft treaty will also provide for expanded cooperation between and among States regarding rapid measures to locate and recover stolen or smuggled nuclear material, mitigate any radiological consequences of sabotage, and prevent and combat related offenses. The original CPPNM applied only to nuclear material in international transport.

Conference President Dr. Alec Baer said: “All 89 delegations demonstrated real unity of purpose. They put aside some very genuine national concerns in favor of the global interest and the result is a much improved convention that is better suited to addressing the nuclear security challenges we currently face.”

Ambassador Garcia said that the new rules will come into effect once they have been ratified by two-thirds of the 112 States Parties of the Convention, expected to take several years.

For more than three years, the IAEA has been implementing a systematic Nuclear Security plan, including physical protection activities designed to prevent, detect and respond to malicious acts.  The Agency’s Nuclear Security Fund, set up after the events of 9/11, has delivered US$19.5 million in practical assistance to 121 countries since 2001.

Under this program fund, countries are assisted in implementing various projects under the amended CPPNM such as helping States identify their vulnerabilities, training their staff or in carrying out physical protection work.  The IAEA will also actively assist Member States in their efforts to ratify and implement the obligations under the CPPNM.  END