Entry into force of the CTBT will be discussed at the Inter Parliamentary Union

21 April 2008
Entry into force of the CTBT will be discussed at the next major meeting of the Inter Parliamentary Union in 2009.
 

The Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) will focus on the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) at its next major meeting to take place in 2009. This was decided on the closing day of the 118th IPU Assembly that took place in Cape Town, South Africa, between 13-18 April. The Assembly adopted the following theme for its Standing Committee on Peace and International Security: “Advancing nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, securing the entry into force of the CTBT: The role of parliaments.”

It was also decided that Australia and Zambia will be the two rapporteurs for the CTBT resolution that will be tabled at the Assembly in 2009.

This is not the first time the IPU – the largest international organization for parliamentarians in the world - decides to devote special time to the CTBT. During the 1980s and 1990s, parliamentarians through the IPU and other international parliamentary networks were crucial in promoting a nuclear test ban.

In 1999, a resolution on the Treaty was adopted by the IPU Assembly. The resolution called for the cessation of all nuclear-weapon tests and for the signature and ratification of the CTBT by all States. It also considered it important to reach an agreement on the closure and abolition of all nuclear test sites. Since 2007, the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has been an observer in the meetings of the IPU.

In his address to the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security on 14 April, CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth underlined the pivotal role parliamentarians can play in help bringing the Treaty and its verification regime into force. Entry into force would enable the benefits at all levels of security to be fully derived, “including civil and scientific applications, so relevant for human security”, Tóth said. He also underlined the “truly multilateral nature” of the verification regime, that all Member States have “equal access to the system’s cutting edge technology, which is provided free of charge.” “By now there are 100 countries enjoying the benefits of this unprecedented system”, Tóth said.

The 120th session of the IPU Assembly will take place in the spring of 2009 and be hosted by Ethiopia.