September 27, 2012 - New York City, New York
Check Against Delivery
I am very pleased to co-host this meeting with my counterparts and to introduce this Joint Ministerial Statement in support of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
The Treaty remains a crucial piece of unfinished business on the nuclear non-proliferation agenda 16 years after it was opened for signature.
This year’s Joint Ministerial Statement includes a number of key points. It reiterates support for the Treaty and its entry into force; welcomes recent ratifications, most notably that of Indonesia in February; calls upon states that have not yet done so to ratify the Treaty and, in the meantime, maintain their moratoria on nuclear testing; and demands that North Korea refrain from conducting any further nuclear tests.
Finally, it reiterates support for the completion of the Treaty’s verification regime, including the International Monitoring System’s worldwide network of 337 stations and laboratories and the capacity to perform on-site inspections.
On this last point, I wish to take this opportunity to announce that Canada has completed a contribution arrangement with the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna to provide state-of-the-art Canadian radiation detection equipment that is essential for the conduct of on-site inspections.
It is our aim to sign this arrangement shortly and to ensure that this equipment is available for the training of the CTBTO’s inspectors and for the upcoming on-site inspection field exercise that will take place in Jordan in 2014.
So far, 71 states intend to endorse this year’s Joint Ministerial Statement, including all five Nuclear Weapon States for the first time.
I encourage all supporters of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to endorse this Joint Ministerial Statement.
Thank you.
