Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 3 December 2012  [on the report of the First Committee (A/67/409)]  67/60. Nuclear disarmament    The General Assembly,    Recalling its resolution 49/75 E of 15 December 1994 on a step-by-step  reduction of the nuclear threat, and its resolutions 50/70 P of 12 December 1995,  51/45 O of 10 December 1996, 52/38 L of 9 December 1997, 53/77 X of  4 December 1998, 54/54 P of 1 December 1999, 55/33 T of 20 November 2000,  56/24 R of 29 November 2001, 57/79 of 22 November 2002, 58/56 of 8 December  2003, 59/77 of 3 December 2004, 60/70 of 8 December 2005, 61/78 of 6 December  2006, 62/42 of 5 December 2007, 63/46 of 2 December 2008, 64/53 of 2 December  2009, 65/56 of 8 December 2010 and 66/51 of 2 December 2011 on nuclear  disarmament,     Reaffirming the commitment of the international community to the goal of the  total elimination of nuclear weapons and the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free  world,    Bearing in mind that the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,  Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and  on Their Destruction of 1972 1  and the Convention on the Prohibition of the  Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their  Destruction of 1993 2  have already established legal regimes on the complete  prohibition of biological and chemical weapons, respectively, and determined to  achieve a nuclear weapons convention on the prohibition of the development,  testing, production, stockpiling, loan, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear  weapons and on their destruction, and to conclude such an international convention  at an early date,     Recognizing that there now exist conditions for the establishment of a world  free of nuclear weapons, and stressing the need to take concrete practical steps  towards achieving this goal,   _______________  1 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1015, No. 14860.  2 Ibid., vol. 1974, No. 33757.   A/RES/67/60  2    Bearing in mind paragraph 50 of the Final Document of the Tenth Special  Session of the General Assembly, the first special session devoted to disarmament,3  calling for the urgent negotiation of agreements for the cessation of the qualitative  improvement and development of nuclear-weapon systems, and for a comprehensive  and phased programme with agreed time frames, wherever feasible, for the  progressive and balanced reduction of nuclear weapons and their means of delivery,  leading to their ultimate and complete elimination at the earliest possible time,     Reaffirming the conviction of the States parties to the Treaty on the   Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons4 that the Treaty is a cornerstone of nuclear  non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament, and the importance of the decision on  strengthening the review process for the Treaty, the decision on principles and  objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, the decision on the  extension of the Treaty and the resolution on the Middle East, adopted by the 1995  Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,5    Stressing the importance of the 13 steps for the systematic and progressive  efforts to achieve the objective of nuclear disarmament leading to the total  elimination of nuclear weapons, as agreed to by the States parties in the Final  Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the   Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,6    Recognizing the important work done at the 2010 Review Conference of the  Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,7 and affirming  its action plan as an impetus to intensify work aimed at beginning negotiations for a  nuclear weapons convention,     Reiterating the highest priority accorded to nuclear disarmament in the Final  Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly and by the  international community,    Reiterating its call for an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty,8     Taking note of the entry into force of the new strategic arms reduction treaty  between the Russian Federation and the United States of America, in order to  achieve further deep cuts in their strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, and  stressing that such cuts should be irreversible, verifiable and transparent,     Recalling the entry into force of the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions  (the Moscow Treaty) between the United States of America and the Russian  Federation9 as a significant step towards reducing their deployed strategic nuclear  weapons, while calling for further irreversible deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals,   _______________  3 Resolution S-10/2.  4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 729, No. 10485.  5 See 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of  Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, Part I (NPT/CONF.1995/32 (Part I) and Corr.2), annex.  6 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final  Document, vol. I (NPT/CONF.2000/28 (Parts I and II)), part I, section entitled “Article VI and eighth to  twelfth preambular paragraphs”, para. 15.  7 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final  Document, vols. I–III (NPT/CONF.2010/50 (Vols. I–III)).  8 See resolution 50/245 and A/50/1027.  9 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2350, No. 42195.   A/RES/67/60  3    Noting the positive statements by nuclear-weapon States of their intention to  pursue actions in achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, while reaffirming the  need for urgent concrete actions by nuclear-weapon States to achieve this goal  within a specified framework of time, and urging them to take further measures for  progress on nuclear disarmament,     Recognizing the complementarity of bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral  negotiations on nuclear disarmament, and that bilateral negotiations can never  replace multilateral negotiations in this respect,     Noting the support expressed in the Conference on Disarmament and in the  General Assembly for the elaboration of an international convention to assure   non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, and  the multilateral efforts in the Conference on Disarmament to reach agreement on  such an international convention at an early date,     Recalling the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the  legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons, issued on 8 July 1996, 10 and  welcoming the unanimous reaffirmation by all Judges of the Court that there exists  an obligation for all States to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion  negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and  effective international control,     Mindful of paragraph 102 of the Final Document of the Coordinating Bureau  of the Non-Aligned Movement at its Ministerial Meeting, held in Havana from 27 to  30 April 2009,11     Recalling paragraph 157 and other relevant recommendations in the Final  Document of the Sixteenth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non- Aligned Countries, held in Tehran from 26 to 31 August 2012,12 calling upon the  Conference on Disarmament to establish, as soon as possible and as the highest  priority, an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament and to commence  negotiations on a phased programme for the complete elimination of nuclear  weapons within a specified framework of time, including a nuclear weapons  convention,    Noting the adoption of the programme of work for the 2009 session by the  Conference on Disarmament on 29 May 2009, 13 after years of stalemate, while  regretting that the Conference has not been able to undertake substantive work on its  agenda in 2012,     Reaffirming the importance and validity of the Conference on Disarmament as  the sole multilateral negotiating forum on disarmament, and expressing the need to  adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive programme of work on the  basis of its agenda and dealing with, inter alia, four core issues, in accordance with  the rules of procedure,14 and by taking into consideration the security concerns of all  States,  _______________  10 A/51/218, annex.  11 See A/63/858.  12 A/67/506-S/2012/752, annex I.  13 See CD/1864.  14 CD/8/Rev.9.   A/RES/67/60  4    Reaffirming also the specific mandate conferred upon the Disarmament  Commission by the General Assembly, in its decision 52/492 of 8 September 1998,  to discuss the subject of nuclear disarmament as one of its main substantive agenda  items,    Recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 15 in which Heads of  State and Government resolved to strive for the elimination of weapons of mass  destruction, in particular nuclear weapons, and to keep all options open for  achieving this aim, including the possibility of convening an international  conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers,    Recalling also the statement on the total elimination of nuclear weapons  adopted by the Sixteenth Ministerial Conference and Commemorative Meeting of  the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, held in Bali, Indonesia, from 23 to  27 May 2011, recalled by the Heads of State and Government of Non-Aligned  Countries at their Sixteenth Conference, in which the Movement of Non-Aligned  Countries reiterated its call for an international conference to identify ways and  means of eliminating nuclear weapons at the earliest possible date,16     Reaffirming that, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, States  should refrain from the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in settling their  disputes in international relations,    Seized of the danger of the use of weapons of mass destruction, particularly  nuclear weapons, in terrorist acts and the urgent need for concerted international  efforts to control and overcome it,    1.  Recognizes that the time is now opportune for all the nuclear-weapon  States to take effective disarmament measures to achieve the total elimination of  these weapons at the earliest possible time;    2.  Reaffirms that nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation are  substantively interrelated and mutually reinforcing, that the two processes must go  hand in hand and that there is a genuine need for a systematic and progressive  process of nuclear disarmament;    3.  Welcomes and encourages the efforts to establish new nuclear-weapon- free zones in different parts of the world, including the establishment of a Middle  East zone free of nuclear weapons, on the basis of agreements or arrangements  freely arrived at among the States of the regions concerned, which is an effective  measure for limiting the further spread of nuclear weapons geographically and  contributes to the cause of nuclear disarmament;    4.  Welcomes the ongoing efforts between the States members of the  Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the nuclear-weapon States, and  encourages the nuclear-weapon States in their early signing of the Protocol to the  Treaty on the South-East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone;17    5.  Recognizes that there is a genuine need to diminish the role of nuclear  weapons in strategic doctrines and security policies to minimize the risk that these  weapons will ever be used and to facilitate the process of their total elimination;   _______________  15 Resolution 55/2.  16 A/65/896-S/2011/407, annex V.  17 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1981, No. 33873.   A/RES/67/60  5    6.  Urges the nuclear-weapon States to stop immediately the qualitative  improvement, development, production and stockpiling of nuclear warheads and  their delivery systems;     7.  Also urges the nuclear-weapon States, as an interim measure, to de-alert  and deactivate immediately their nuclear weapons and to take other concrete  measures to reduce further the operational status of their nuclear-weapon systems,  while stressing that reductions in deployments and in operational status cannot  substitute for irreversible cuts in and the total elimination of nuclear weapons;     8.  Reiterates its call upon the nuclear-weapon States to undertake the step- by-step reduction of the nuclear threat and to carry out effective nuclear  disarmament measures with a view to achieving the total elimination of these  weapons within a specified framework of time;     9.  Calls upon the nuclear-weapon States, pending the achievement of the  total elimination of nuclear weapons, to agree on an internationally and legally  binding instrument on a joint undertaking not to be the first to use nuclear weapons,  and calls upon all States to conclude an internationally and legally binding  instrument on security assurances of non-use and non-threat of use of nuclear  weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States;     10. Urges the nuclear-weapon States to commence plurilateral negotiations  among themselves at an appropriate stage on further deep reductions of nuclear  weapons as an effective measure of nuclear disarmament;    11. Underlines the importance of applying the principles of transparency,  irreversibility and verifiability to the process of nuclear disarmament and to nuclear  and other related arms control and reduction measures;    12. Also underlines the importance of the unequivocal undertaking by the  nuclear-weapon States, in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of  the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to  accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear  disarmament, to which all States parties are committed under article VI of the  Treaty,6 and the reaffirmation by the States parties that the total elimination of  nuclear weapons is the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of  nuclear weapons;18     13. Calls for the full and effective implementation of the 13 practical steps  for nuclear disarmament contained in the Final Document of the 2000 Review  Conference;    14. Also calls for the full implementation of the action plan as set out in the  conclusions and recommendations for follow-on actions of the Final Document of  the 2010 Review Conference, particularly the 22-point action plan on nuclear  disarmament;7    15. Urges the nuclear-weapon States to carry out further reductions of   non-strategic nuclear weapons, based on unilateral initiatives and as an integral part  of the nuclear arms reduction and disarmament process;   _______________  18 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,  Final Document, vol. I (NPT/CONF.2000/28 (Parts I and II)), part I, section entitled “Article VII and the  security of non-nuclear-weapon States”, para. 2.   A/RES/67/60  6    16. Calls for the immediate commencement of negotiations in the Conference  on Disarmament on a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and  effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear  weapons or other nuclear explosive devices on the basis of the report of the Special  Coordinator19 and the mandate contained therein;     17. Urges the Conference on Disarmament to commence as early as possible  its substantive work during its 2013 session, on the basis of a comprehensive and  balanced programme of work that takes into consideration all the real and existing  priorities in the field of disarmament and arms control, including the immediate  commencement of negotiations on such a treaty with a view to their conclusion  within five years;     18. Calls for the conclusion of an international legal instrument or instruments  on adequate and unconditional security assurances to non-nuclear-weapon States;     19. Also calls for the early entry into force and strict observance of the  Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,8 while welcoming the recent ratification  of the Treaty by Guatemala, Guinea and Indonesia;     20. Expresses its regret that the Conference on Disarmament was unable to  establish an ad hoc committee to deal with nuclear disarmament in 2012, as called  for by the General Assembly in its resolution 66/51;     21. Reiterates its call upon the Conference on Disarmament to establish, as  soon as possible and as the highest priority, an ad hoc committee on nuclear  disarmament in 2013 and to commence negotiations on a phased programme of  nuclear disarmament leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons within a  specified framework of time;     22. Calls for the convening of an international conference on nuclear  disarmament in all its aspects at an early date to identify and deal with concrete  measures of nuclear disarmament;     23. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its  sixty-eighth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution;     24. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-eighth session  under the item entitled “General and complete disarmament”, the sub-item entitled  “Nuclear disarmament”.    48th plenary meeting  3 December 2012    _______________  19 CD/1299.