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MANILA, Philippines — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans to set up a safety watchdog to ensure that nuclear power plants in the region are not used to produce weapons or aid terrorists and other criminal groups, an official said on July 28.

ASEAN foreign ministers will discuss ways to better enforce the decade-old treaty, called the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, at an annual meeting in Manila on July 30. They are to adopt a five-year plan to ensure compliance.

The plan includes urging the world's leading nuclear powers — the United States, China, Britain, Russia and France — to declare their respect for the treaty, even if they do not formally accede to it.

ASEAN was founded as an anti-communist organization during the Cold War but has evolved into a trade and political bloc. Its members — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — have all signed the nuclear treaty.