Address at CTBT Ministerial Meeting

The Minister based his address on the following points.
Check against delivery.

Mr Chair,
Ladies and gentlemen,

For decades, a comprehensive ban on the testing of nuclear weapons has been considered crucial to prevent further proliferation of these weapons and the development of new generations of nuclear weapons.

We must act now to capitalise on the momentum created at the NPT Review Conference in May and follow up on the actions we have committed ourselves to.

The entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is within reach. It will bring us one step closer to a world without nuclear weapons.

Norway calls on those states that have yet not done so to sign and ratify the Treaty. We welcome the announcement by the US of its intention to ratify, and the decision by Indonesia to start the ratification process.

We urge other states whose ratification is required for the Treaty to enter into force to follow suit. Norway will continue to provide funding for activities that promote ratification of the Treaty.

Pending the entry into force of the Treaty, we must uphold the strong norm of non-testing. The test conducted by the DPRK in May 2009 was a serious violation of this norm, and of the international non-proliferation regime. Norway urges the DPRK to renounce nuclear weapons and abide by the obligations arising from the relevant Security Council resolutions. We strongly encourage DPRK to return to the six-party talks as soon as possible.

Testing moratoria can never be a substitute for a comprehensive, universal and legally binding agreement. We must ensure that the Treaty enters into force, or the norm may lose its force. 

Mr Chair, 

Norway has always underlined the value of the CTBT verification system for international cooperation and confidence building. The unprecedented global network of monitoring stations and data centres is mostly in place, inspiring strong confidence in the Treaty’s verifiability. The DPRK’s nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 clearly demonstrated the value of this system. 

Norway calls on all state signatories to provide political and financial support to the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) so that it can complete the verification regime. All outstanding obstacles to the installation, certification, operation and maintenance of the facilities must be addressed. 

The PTS must have the necessary resources, and Norway applauds the EU for its generous contribution to this end in July (EUR 5.3 million). 

As for Norway, we already have five out of six monitoring stations that are certified and ready for use. There can be no doubt that universal adherence to the CTBT would in itself be a tremendous confidence-building measure as regards the non-proliferation intentions of states parties. This is particularly important in regional contexts such as the Middle East and North East Asia. 

Mr Chair,

The unanimous adoption by the UN General Assembly last December of resolution 64/39, designating 29 August as the International Day against Nuclear Tests, commits us all to make every effort “to end nuclear tests in order to avert devastating and harmful effects on the lives and health of people”, to quote from the preamble.

We congratulate Kazakhstan for taking the lead in this endeavour. Here I would also like to express our appreciation for the close cooperation between Norway and Kazakhstan with regard to the establishment of a training centre in Almaty for CTBT specialists from the Central Asian region.

A comprehensive and legally binding ban on nuclear testing would be an important step towards a world free of nuclear weapons and a safer world for all of us. Thank you.