LM Report 2001

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	Select a chapter ... About LM 2001 Introduction Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe/Central Asia Middle East/North Africa ICBL Appendices Exec. Summary Maps
	Select a country ... -STATES PARTIES- Australia Bangladesh Cambodia Fiji Japan Kiribati Malaysia Maldives Nauru New Zealand Niue Philippines Samoa Solomon Islands Thailand -SIGNATORIES- Brunei Darussalam Cook Islands Indonesia Marshall Islands Vanuatu -NON-SIGNATORIES- Afghanistan Bhutan Burma (Myanmar) China India DPR Korea Rep. of Korea Lao PDR Fed. Stat. of Micronesia Mongolia Nepal Pakistan Palau Papua New Guinea Singapore Sri Lanka Tonga Tuvalu Vietnam -OTHER- East Timor Taiwan

NEW ZEALAND

Key developments since May 2000: New Zealand has continued its international advocacy in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, and its financial and in-kind contributions to mine action programs. In March 2001, it co-hosted a United Nations Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference, which included discussion on landmines.

Mine Ban Policy

New Zealand signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, enacted implementation legislation (the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act 1998) on 9 December 1998, and deposited its instrument of ratification on 27 January 1999. The treaty entered into force for New Zealand on 1 July 1999.

New Zealand participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties in Geneva with a delegation led by H.E. Clive Pearson, New Zealand’s Ambassador for Disarmament, which also included the Convenor of the New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines (CALM). In his plenary statement, Ambassador Pearson urged the conference to “send a strong and unequivocal signal to those countries not party to the Convention of the imperative of signature and ratification without further delay.”^[1]

New Zealand’s statement called for the conference to examine the “nuts-and-bolts” issues concerning the mechanics of implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, and noted that “it is time we prepared ourselves for the unpleasant reality that one day we may need to investigate a State Party’s compliance with the Convention.” The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon. Phil Goff, described the statement as “well received, in particular by the President who thanked us in the margins for being one of the minority of national statements to actually tackle practical issues of implementation.”^[2] New Zealand also made an intervention discussing why it does not retain any live antipersonnel mines for training.

New Zealand has actively participated in the “Universalization Contact Group” formally recognized at the Second Meeting of States Parties. Representatives from the New Zealand Mission to the UN in Geneva attended the December 2000 and May 2001 intersessional meetings. While viewing these meetings as “vital, constructive and indeed essential processes,” at the SMSP New Zealand also recognized the “high degree of coordination [required]...to ensure they are properly effective” and supported the establishment of the Coordination Committee to ensure adequate continuity and oversight of Mine Ban Treaty implementation.^[3]

New Zealand voted for UN General Assembly Resolution 55/33V in support of the Mine Ban Treaty. In the UNGA First Committee debate, New Zealand stated that it wants to see universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, “not least because of its clear humanitarian impact” and said, “We are not attracted to and will not support partial solutions on transfers when a new international norm has been created.”^[4]

New Zealand submitted its second Article 7 transparency report on 18 May 2001, covering the period from 27 December 1999 (when its first report was submitted) to 31 December 2000. It is essentially a “nil” report, with no new developments to report.

From 27-30 March 2001, New Zealand co-hosted a UN Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference together with the UN Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Center. Governments, disarmament agencies and experts, including CALM and the ICBL, attended the meeting. There were several meetings and a roundtable discussion on landmines for ICBL and the Pacific Island states attending the conference.

CALM joined in the global release of Landmine Monitor Report 2000 in September 2000 with a function in Parliament Buildings, attended by Members of Parliament, government officials, military, diplomatic and media representatives. It distributed the report to local universities and to governments of Pacific Island states. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade welcomed the report, describing it as “a useful tool for encouraging transparency and the universalization of the Ottawa Convention.”^[5] The Minister provided Landmine Monitor with a detailed response for the 2001 report following its request for updated information.

In December 2000, New Zealand attended the Second Annual Conference of States Parties to the Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), as a State Party.

Production, Transfer, Use, Stockpiling

New Zealand has never produced antipersonnel mines and it does not export nor import, nor allow their transfer through its territory. Under the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act 1998 “transfer” is defined as including both importation into, and exportation from, New Zealand, while under the Customs and Excise Act 1996, importation and exportation are defined in terms of entry to or exit from New Zealand territory, including New Zealand territorial waters. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Landmine Monitor that “any transit of anti-personnel mines through New Zealand territory would constitute a transfer, and would be prohibited under s7(1)(d) of the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act.”^[6]

While there are no antipersonnel mines stockpiled in New Zealand, a small stockpile of command-detonated Claymore mines is retained as allowed under the Mine Ban Treaty. The Army has not retained any mines for training and instead uses “replica mine models, locally-designed simulators which emit smoke or sound when activated, and about 50 inert mines brought back from various demining missions.”^[7] The inert mines are free from explosive and do not qualify as antipersonnel mines as they are defined in the treaty.

Mine Action

Financial and in-kind funding by New Zealand is shown in the accompanying tables, which reflect expenditure in the last financial year (which runs from 1 July 1999 - 30 June 2000).^[8] In FY 1999/2000, NZ$945,854 (US$360,717) was spent on mine action programs and an additional NZ$869,755 (US$373,995) spent on in-kind contributions. There was an increase of NZ$45,000 on the previous financial year in program funding but an unfavorable exchange rate against the US dollar makes the contribution appear much lower.

Funding (Financial Year 1 July 1999 - 30 June 2000)^[9]