Panama

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

SIGNED

20 September 2017

RATIFIED

11 April 2019

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

Status

Panama has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.

Signature and ratification

Isabel Saint Malo, the then-vice-president and minister of foreign affairs of Panama, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.

Melitón Alejandro Arrocha Ruíz, the then-permanent representative of Panama to the United Nations, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 11 April 2019.

Panama was the 23rd state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

Isabel Saint Malo, the then-vice-president and minister of foreign affairs of Panama, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN

Ambassador Melitón Alejandro Arrocha Ruíz (left) deposits Panama’s instrument of ratification in 2019. Photo: UNOLA

Government officials discuss the TPNW with atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Panama in 2018. Photo: Panama MFA

National position

In 2020, Panama said that the TPNW’s entry into force would “bring us closer to guaranteeing international peace and security through the irreversible, verifiable, and transparent elimination of nuclear weapons”.

In 2024, it said that the TPNW and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 “reinforce each other”, and it highlighted the “important contribution of the TPNW to the full implementation of Article VI of the NPT”.

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Panama submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 19 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.

As required by Article 3, Panama has a comprehensive safeguards agreement in force with the International Atomic Energy Agency to guard against the misuse of nuclear facilities and materials. It also has an additional protocol in force.

Per Article 12, Panama has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.

Panama has also utilised the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review process to encourage other states to join the TPNW.

Meetings of states parties

Panama participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. It said that the meeting provided “a historic opportunity”, at a time “when international peace is endangered”, to make progress towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

It also participated in the second meeting of states parties in 2023 and the third meeting in 2025.

TPNW negotiations

Panama participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.

In its closing statement to the negotiating conference, Panama said that “the strengthening of the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament architecture at the global level is an ethical imperative and an obligation” for all states.

In 2016, Panama co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

Before the negotiations

Panama was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

Panama

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

Status

Signature and ratification

National position

Implementation

Meetings of states parties

TPNW negotiations

Before the negotiations

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

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