Background Release

CONFERENCE ON FACILITATING ENTRY INTO FORCE OF NUCLEAR-TEST-BAN TREATY

AT HEADQUARTERS, 11 - 13 NOVEMBER

NEW YORK, 9 November (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- The 2001 Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which takes place in United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 to 13 November 2001, is convened under article XIV of the CTBT to provide States with an opportunity to review progress and to consider ways to accelerate the ratification process and advance the entry into force of the Treaty.  The Treaty bans all nuclear-test explosions in any environment.

The Conference is expected to renew global awareness of the Treaty and encourage States who have not already done so to sign or ratify it. 

To date, 161 States have signed the Treaty, 84 have ratified it.  The Treaty will enter into force only when all 44 States listed in Annex 2 of the Treaty have ratified it.  These are the 44 States that participated in the 1996 session of the Conference on Disarmament and possess nuclear research and power reactors according to data compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  Thirty-one of them have already ratified the Treaty.

The Conference is convened at the request of the majority of the States that have ratified the CTBT.  All States, both signatories and non-signatories, are invited to attend the Conference.  The Conference is also open to specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, entities that have been granted observer status in the United Nations General Assembly, and non-governmental organizations.  The Conference is expected to be attended at a high level, with more than 50 ministers scheduled to speak.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is scheduled to address the opening meeting on Sunday morning, 11 November.  The Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Wolfgang Hoffmann, is also expected to speak.  A progress report by Japan on cooperation between States to facilitate the Treaty’s entry into force is anticipated, as well as a general exchange of views by ratifiers and signatories.  Statements by non-signatory States and a joint statement by non-governmental organizations are also expected.  The discussion is due to conclude on Tuesday,  13 November, followed by consideration and adoption of a final document and report.

The first Conference on facilitating the entry into force was held from 6 to 8 October 1999 in Vienna, Austria.  Among its many provisions, a Final Declaration reiterated that the cessation of all nuclear-weapon-test explosions and all other nuclear explosions was an effective nuclear-disarmament and non-proliferation

measure and a meaningful step in the realization of a systematic process to achieve nuclear disarmament.

The 1999 Declaration called upon all States that had not yet signed the Treaty to sign and ratify it as soon as possible and to refrain from acts that would defeat the Treaty’s object and purpose in the meanwhile.  Among its other provisions was a call on States that had signed, but not ratified, the Treaty, in particular, those States whose ratification is needed for its entry into force, to accelerate their ratification processes.  From the time of the convening of the 1999 Conference, 33 more States have ratified the Treaty, including five Annex 2 States, and seven more have signed it.

Under the terms of the Treaty, a global verification regime to monitor compliance with the Treaty must be operational at the time of entry into force.  This verification regime, based on an International Monitoring System (IMS) of

337 monitoring facilities around the world and the International Data Centre (IDC) in Vienna, provides for a consultation and clarification process, on-site inspections and confidence-building measures.  The data collected by the IMS and analysed in the IDC will be used by States, upon entry into force, to monitor Treaty adherence and, if necessary, to reach a decision as to whether or not the Treaty has been contravened.

As many of the monitoring stations are in remote places, the establishment of the IMS poses unprecedented engineering challenges.  Progress in establishing the stations has been good, however, with all site surveys now nearly complete, and installations finalized at some 120 stations.  Data is flowing into the IDC from about 100 of the stations, and new releases of software are proving steadily more accurate in pinpointing the location of events around the globe.

Ratification

The 84 States that have deposited their instruments of ratification of the CTBT are:  Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guyana, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Uzbekistan.

Signatories

The 161 States that have signed the Treaty are:  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, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, 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, Yugoslavia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Annex 2 States

The 31 Annex 2 countries that have ratified the Treaty are:  Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

The following 13 States required for ratification, but have not yet done so, are:  Algeria, China, Colombia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, United States and Viet Nam.

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