LM Report 2003

Tuvalu

Tuvalu has not yet acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In April 2002, a government official in the Office of the Prime Minister told Landmine Monitor that ratification would take place “most probably in the years to come, as it is not a priority area.”^[1] In June 2003, a government official told Landmine Monitor that information contained in the April 2002 letter from the government was still valid, with no new developments for the 2003 reporting period.^[2] The official made no mention of the status of accession to the treaty. Tuvalu sponsored but was absent from the final vote on pro-ban UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 in November 2002, which called for universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Tuvalu does not use, produce, export, import, or stockpile antipersonnel mines and their transfer through its territory is not allowed.^[3] There is a problem with unexploded ordnance left over from World War II.

[1] Letter to Neil Mander, Convenor New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines, from Bill P. Teo on behalf of the Secretary to Government, Office of the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, 15 April 2002.
[2] Email to John Head, CALM New Zealand, from Panapasi Nelesone, Secretary to the Government of Tuvalu, 4 June 2003.
[3] Letter from Bill P. Teo, Office of the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, 15 April 2002.