The ''Strengthened Safeguards System'' of the IAEO

The secret nuclear activities of Iraq and North Korea, which were uncovered a few years ago, were some of the reasons instigating the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to consider ways and means to strengthen the existing non-proliferation regime and the relevant Safeguards system. In April 1997, a committee established in 1996 by the Board of Governors of the IAEA, for enhancing the efficiency of the Safeguards system (Committee 24), after controversial debates finally agreed on and finalised a draft for a new master protocol, which was adopted by the Board of Governors in May 1997 and was published as IAEA Information Circular/540 (INFCIRC/540). It is intended to complement the Safeguards agreements concluded by the IAEA and its member states as well as regional organisations, such as the European Union. It will now be necessary to give life to this protocol under the name of Strengthened Safeguards Systems (SSS) by achieving as comprehensive as possible a ratification of the document, on the basis of the specific, individual agreements to be concluded between the IAEA and the parties involved. (orig./CB)