Treaty of Rarotonga
The Treaty of Rarotonga is the common name for the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which formalises a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the South Pacific. The treaty bans the use, testing, and possession of nuclear weapons within the borders of the zone.
It was signed by the South Pacific nations of Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Western Samoa on the island of Rarotonga on 6 August 1985, came into force on 11 December 1986 with the 8th ratification, and has since been ratified by all of those states.
The Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau are not party to the treaties but are eligible to become parties should they decide to join the treaty in the future.
Protocols binding other states
There are three protocols to the treaty, which have been signed by the five declared nuclear states, with the exception of Protocol 1 for China and Russia who have no territory in the Zone.- no manufacture, stationing or testing in their territories within the Zone
- no use against the Parties to the Treaty, or against territories where Protocol 1 is in force
- no testing within the Zone
Scope of applicability
The treaty's different provisions apply variously to the Zone, to the territories within the Zone, or globally."South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone" means the area :
- south of the Equator
- north of the 60th parallel south
- east of the 115th meridian east
- west of the 115th meridian west
but minus the northwest corner beyond Australian territorial waters and near Indonesia.
Several islands in the Indian Ocean also belong to Australia and are therefore part of the zone.
"Territory" means internal waters, territorial sea and archipelagic waters, the seabed and subsoil beneath, the land territory and the airspace above them.
It does not include international waters.
Article 2 says "Nothing in this Treaty shall prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights, of any State under international law with regard to freedom of the seas."
The Treaty is an agreement between nation-states and as such of course cannot apply to those who have not signed the treaty or protocols, for example, the four countries not signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, who are all nuclear powers.
List of states and territories
- The only territory north of the Equator that is part of the Zone is in Kiribati, the only state straddling the Equator.
- Micronesia is outside the Zone except for Kiribati.
- Melanesia is inside the Zone except for Indonesia, which is in the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone.
- Polynesia is inside the Zone except for Easter Island, which is in the Latin American Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, the Polynesian outliers of Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro in Micronesia, Hawaii, American Samoa and several uninhabited US Minor Outlying Islands.
| State | Signed | Deposited |
| Australia | ||
| Cook Islands | ||
| Fiji | ||
| Kiribati | ||
| Nauru | ||
| New Zealand | ||
| Niue | ||
| Papua New Guinea | ||
| Samoa | ||
| Solomon Islands | ||
| Tonga | ||
| Tuvalu | ||
| Vanuatu |
| Territory | State |
| Christmas Island | Australia |
| Cocos Islands | Australia |
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | Australia |
| Norfolk Island | Australia |
| Tokelau | New Zealand |
| French Polynesia | France |
| New Caledonia | France |
| Wallis and Futuna | France |
| Pitcairn Islands | Great Britain |