A Regional Seminar on the Protocol Additional to Nuclear Safeguards Agreements, sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be held in Lima, Peru, on 4-7 December 2001. The seminar is to be hosted by the Government of Peru and has the support of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) and of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will be conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish.

The objective of this regional seminar is to inform the States Party to the Treaty of Tlatelolco about the Model Additional Protocol approved by the IAEA Board of Governors in May 1997 as a key component to the Agency's strengthened safeguards system, with a view to assisting these States to conclude Protocols Additional to their safeguards agreements as soon as possible.

The Model Additional Protocol encompasses additional safeguards measures aimed at strengthening the Agency's safeguards system and improving the Agency's ability to detect undeclared nuclear activity in States.

At the 2000 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Final Document of the Review Conference fully endorsed the measures contained in the Model Additional Protocol. Furthermore, Resolution GC(44)/RES/19 of the September 2000 IAEA General Conference requested all concerned States and other Parties to safeguards agreements which have not yet done so to sign Additional Protocols promptly.

The approval of the Model Additional Protocol by the Board of Governors represented an important step for the strengthening of the whole IAEA verification system. The Additional Protocol is thus applicable to all safeguards agreements, and is an instrument whose universalization should be promoted as a key component of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

To date, the Board has approved Additional Protocols for 57 States. Twenty of these Protocols are presently in force. Unfortunately, the record among the States Party to the Treaty of Tlatelolco has been poor. Only 4 Latin American and Caribbean States have thus far concluded Additional Protocols, and one is in force.

The seminar sessions will address a broad range of non-proliferation, safeguards and Additional Protocol issues from both the Agency and State perspectives. In particular, the IAEA's representatives hope to have the opportunity of meeting with Government's representatives to discuss the status of Government's consideration of the Additional Protocol.

The following topics will be covered:

Theme I: Security in the Latin America and Caribbean Region


1. Global and Regional Security from a Latin American and Caribbean Region Viewpoint: A historical and current perspective



2. Sovereignty and Security: Achieving an acceptable balance (Bilateral and multilateral arms control and non-proliferation agreements)



3. Regional Nuclear Non-Proliferation Architecture: I. An IAEA perspective



4. Regional Nuclear Non-Proliferation Architecture: II. A Regional Perspective


Theme II: Nuclear Verification and the Strengthened Safeguards System


5. Verifying Compliance: Safeguards Activities under INFCIRC/153



6. The Strengthened Safeguards System



7. The Model Additional Protocol: A Contribution to Global Non-proliferation Objectives



8. Aspects of the Model Additional Protocol - Information and Access



9. Implementing the Additional Protocol: the State Perspective



10. SSACs and What They Can Do



11. SQP States: Their Place in the Strengthened Safeguards System



12. Integrated Safeguards


Theme III: Looking toward the Future


13. Prognosis for the Future:



• The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime
• Towards a Nuclear Weapon-Free World
• Verification at low/zero levels: What will it take?

Governments are invited to nominate a maximum of two participants per IAEA Member State and one per Non-Member State to attend the seminar. To assist Governments in participating in the seminar, the IAEA is prepared to provide subsistence allowance and least-cost round trip economy airfare to Lima, Peru for these participants. Additional participants may be accepted if the cost for those participants are borne by the nominating government. Nominations for participation should reach the Agency no later than 15 October 2001.

Liaison Officer:

Mr. Jaime Vidaurre-Henry
Head, Section for Safeguards Training
International Atomic Energy Agency
P.O. Box 100
A-1400 Vienna, Austria

Telephone No.: +43-1-2600-26361
Telefax No.: +43-1-2600-29452
Email: vidaurre-henry@iaea.org

Admin. Assistant:

Ms. Christine Floh
Section for Safeguards Training
International Atomic Energy Agency
P.O. Box 100
A-1400 Vienna, Austria

Telephone No.: +43-1-2600-26357
Telefax No.: +43-1-2600-726357
Email: c.floh@iaea.org