Brazil is also a signatory of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, which forbids the development, production and storage of such weapons. It is also party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which similarly forbids the development, production, acquisition, storage, holding, transference and use of chemical weapons. Brazil understands that security, peace and development cannot be disassociated from the issue of disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This field is strongly stratified, as illustrated by the differentiation established in the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty (NPT)12 among states that have and states that do not have nuclear weapons. The possession of weapons of mass destruction (mainly nuclear) and their launching vehicles (long range missiles), as well as the participation in alliances, which contemplate the possibility — even as a last resort — of employing such weapons, remain a crucial factor in international relations, with direct implications for defense and security. The existence of countries with nuclear weapons capacity — not only de jure, but also de facto13, — is a menace to the NPT regime. Some states known to have possession of nuclear weapons are not parties to the Treaty. The signs of accommodation regarding the de facto status of these countries, emitted especially by some de jure, nuclear armed states, represent an element of instability in the system. Such factors add to the chronic unsteady compliance of obligations related to the NPT’s three pillars (non-proliferation, disarmament and right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes), with overwhelming emphasis on the first. The steps for nuclear disarmament provided in Article VI of the NPT were not implemented. The arsenal of de jure nuclear-armed states was not eliminated. Non-compliance with Article VI perpetuates the imbalance of the NPT. The NPT was signed on July 1st, 1968 and became effective internationally on March 5th, 1970. Brazil adhered to the Treaty on September 18, 1998, through Decree No 2.864 of December 7, 1998. Legislative Decree No 65 of July 2nd, 1998, which approved the NPT text with the aim of adhering the Brazilian Government, highlighted in its Article 2 that “Brazil’s adhesion to the present treaty is bound to the understanding that, in accordance with Article VI, effective measures will be carried out to stop, in the near future, the nuclear arms race and to eliminate all atomic weapons”. 12 13 The Latin expressions de jure and de facto are applied as opposing ideas, and mean respectively: “legally” and “in fact”. DEFENSE WHITE PAPER 41 CHAPTER 2 — THE 21st CENTURY STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty