CONFERENCE ON FACILITATING ENTRY INTO FORCE OF COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR-TEST-BAN TREATY AT HEADQUARTERS, 25-27 SEPTEMBER

CONFERENCE ON FACILITATING ENTRY INTO FORCE OF COMPREHENSIVE

NUCLEAR-TEST-BAN TREATY AT HEADQUARTERS, 25-27 SEPTEMBER

NEW YORK, 12 March (Department of Disarmament Affairs) -- The Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) will be held from 25 to 27 September 2001 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  The Conference is being convened by the Secretary-General, in his capacity as Depositary of the Treaty, following a request made by a majority of the States that have ratified the CTBT.

Accordingly, the Secretary-General has circulated communications inviting the States that have ratified and the States that have signed the Treaty to participate in the Conference.  He has also invited the States that have not yet signed the Treaty to attend the Conference.  Attendance at the Conference is expected to be at a high level.  The Conference will also be open for attendance of specialized agencies, related organizations, intergovernmental organizations and entities that have been granted observer status in the United Nations General Assembly, as well as non-governmental organizations.

The purpose of the Conference is to examine the extent to which the requirement for entry into force set out in article XIV, paragraph 1, of the CTBT has been met and to consider and decide by consensus what measures consistent with international law may be undertaken to accelerate the ratification process in order to facilitate the early entry into force of the Treaty.  It is the second such conference.  The first conference was convened from 6 to 8 October 1999 in Vienna, Austria, pursuant to article XIV, paragraph, 2 of the Treaty, which stipulates that if the CTBT has not entered into force three years after the date of the anniversary of its opening for signature, the Depositary shall convene a conference of the States that have already deposited their instruments of ratification upon the request of a majority of those States.  The Conference resulted in the adoption of a final declaration.

The forthcoming Conference is convened pursuant to article XIV, paragraph 3, of the Treaty, which stipulates that unless otherwise decided by the first or subsequent conferences, the process referred to in paragraph 2 shall be repeated at subsequent anniversaries of the opening for signature of the Treaty, until its entry into force.

The CTBT was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on

10 September 1996.  Opened for signature on 24 September 1996, the CTBT will enter into force when it has been ratified by 44 nuclear-capable States listed in

Annex 2 to the Treaty.  So far, 41 of these 44 States have signed the CTBT, and  31 of them have deposited instruments of ratification with the Secretary-General.  In total, as of 12 March 2001, 160 States have signed the Treaty, 74 of which have ratified it.

Under the CTBT, States parties undertake not to carry out any nuclear-weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion and to establish a global verification regime which shall be capable of meeting the verification requirements of the Treaty at its entry into force.  Prior to entry into force, States signatories are expected to refrain from acts that could defeat the object and purpose of the Treaty.

      On 19 November 1996, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, as Depositary of the CTBT, convened a meeting of States signatories in New York, which adopted a resolution establishing a Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) and its Provisional Technical Secretariat.  The Secretariat launched its operations in Vienna in March 1997.  The responsibility of the Commission and the Secretariat is to establish a global verification regime envisaged in the Treaty, which will consist of an International Monitoring System (IMS), a consultation and clarification process, on-site inspections, and confidence-building measures.  The IMS would consist of a global network of 170 seismic, 60 infrasound, 11 hydroacoustic and 80 radionuclide stations, supported by 16 radionuclide laboratories.  The data from stations will be transmitted by a global satellite communications system to the headquarters in Vienna, where they will be processed and analysed.  These data and products of analysis will be made available to Member States.  Ambiguous events could then be subject to consultation and clarification.  And finally, on-site inspections at the request of Member States are provided for in the Treaty.

For further information, contact:  Department for Disarmament Affairs at tel: (212) 963-9309; Public Information Section of the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO at tel: (431) 26030-6159 or e-mail: info@ctbto.org.

Status of CTBT as at 12 March 2001

Signatures (160)

Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia and Liechtenstein. 

Also, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia,

Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Ratifications (74)

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mali, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan.

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