Treaty of Rarotonga
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The Treaty of Rarotonga is the common name for the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which formalizes 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. [1][2][3][4]
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 (where the capital of the Cook Islands is located) on August 6, 1985, and has since been ratified by all of those states.
The Federal States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau are not eligible, since they are part of the so-called Compact of Free Association which provides access to nuclear submarines of the United States of America.
There are three protocols to the treaty: the first governs territories held by nuclear armed states in the zone, the others govern nuclear states in general. In 1996, France, United Kingdom signed and ratified the three protocols of the treaty. The USA signed them the same year but never ratified them. China signed and ratified the protocols two and three in 1987.
