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MNEPR Entry Into Force Appears Close By Joe Fiorill WASHINGTON — The Framework Agreement on a Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program in the Russian Federation (MNEPR) appears to have been submitted to the Russian Duma as it hurries through its legislative agenda ahead of December elections, meaning the agreement could enter into force within months, the lead international official for the program said today (see GSN, Oct. 17). Patrick Reyners, head of legal affairs at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency, said in a telephone interview from Paris that he “understood” at a meeting last week of MNEPR parties that the agreement was in the hands of the Duma. He added, though, that the legal processes of ratification in Russia are not entirely clear and that the Duma may not technically have received the agreement yet. In any case, Reyners said, “The information we received from the Russian side is encouraging.” “It’s safe to say they’re going to be submitted [to the Duma] in the near term,” U.S. State Department negotiator Jeff Miller said of the framework agreement and related documents. MNEPR, under which the United States and European countries are to help secure dangerous nuclear materials in northwestern Russia, would enter into force if Russia deposited its instrument of ratification with the OECD. Sweden and Norway have already ratified the agreement, which was signed in May in Stockholm, and Reyners said “several other countries are very advanced in their ratification processes.” Entry into force requires ratification by Russia and any other signatory. Last week’s one-day meeting in Moscow was the first meeting of parties since the agreement was signed in May. Reyners and Miller said the parties mainly established principles and procedures for the panel’s future work, as well as conducting an initial review of the first projects under the program. Miller said Germany announced it is committing more than $350 million to dismantle nuclear submarines, something Norway is already doing in a separate MNEPR project. A main subject of discussion for the group, according to Miller and Reyners, was a “side letter” from Russia to the other countries on tax exemption for parties as they implement MNEPR projects in Russia. Miller said progress was made on the matter and that the group is close to agreement on how to handle the exemption. On another matter, a U.S.-Russian dispute over liability protections in threat reduction agreements such as MNEPR, there was no action, Reyners and Miller said. The United States, seeking to protect its officials and contractors from legal liability in case of damages and injuries resulting from threat reduction activities in Russia, has been pushing for the acceptance of liability language such as that found in the 1992 Cooperative Threat Reduction umbrella agreement as a standard for all such agreements. The umbrella agreement, unlike some related texts, lacks language to exempt Russia from liability in case of a premeditated attack. The dispute has led to the termination of two U.S.-Russian accords in recent months and caused liability provisions for MNEPR to be drawn up in a separate protocol to the main agreement, which was signed by all parties but the United States and contains language favored by Russia. Some observers have said Russian ratification of MNEPR could signal a hard Russian line on the question and even presage a renegotiation of the umbrella agreement, which Russia has never ratified. At last week’s meeting, said Miller, the United States presented “our normal statement that we give, which is once we get a liability arrangement in place, then we will be able to move forward in implementing projects.” “There is a dialogue,” he said, “and … the Russian Federation made reference to our dialogue during the meeting.” “Nothing happened. There is nothing to say,” said Reyners of the liability question. The next MNEPR meeting is expected around May.
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