Ban Ki-moon urges nations to ratify nuclear treaty

The United States was urged today to take the lead among 10 nations yet to sign up to a global nuclear test ban treaty to take a significant step toward a goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pushed for the 10 nations to sign up to the deal, saying it would ensure that North Korea’s test blast last October is the world’s final experiment with atomic weaponry.

Although 140 countries have ratified the treaty, the accord will not enter into force until it has been ratified by all 44 states listed in an annex that took part in a 1996 disarmament conference and have nuclear power or research reactors.

Only 34 of the 44 have done so. The 10 holdouts are China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the US.

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, opened for signature in September 1996, bans all nuclear test explosions. Its aim is to eliminate nuclear weapons by constraining the development of new types of bomb.

The foreign ministers of Austria and Costa Rica, who led a two-day conference on the treaty in Vienna, told a news conference today that the pact was key to ridding the world of nuclear weaponry and called for US leadership to seal the deal.

“The message from here in a way is, yes, we want US leadership,” Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik told reporters.

Bruno Stagno Ugarte, Costa Rica’s foreign minister, said the treaty was the “last possible barrier before … the unthinkable” and urged the 10 countries to ratify the treaty as soon as possible.

Ugarte acknowledged that there had been “some reticence on behalf of the current US administration” but added he hoped there would be movement on ratification.

“This is a pillar of the international confidence system,” Ugarte said.

Ban Ki-moon relayed his message through an envoy yesterday at the start of the two-day conference. On October 9 last year, North Korea claimed to have tested a nuclear weapon.

Ban called the treaty “a major instrument in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation,” and said if it came into force would help the larger goal of ridding the world of nuclear weaponry.

The conference was attended by more than 100 countries, including seven of the 10 not yet signed up. India, the United States and North Korea were not there.

Pakistan attended the conference as an observer, a move hailed by Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organisation, as a “good step in the right direction.”

Along with more than 40 other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Arms Control Association co-signed a statement delivered at the conference that, among other things, said the world’s patience was wearing thin with signatory states – in particular China and the US – that do not appear to be exerting a “good-faith effort” to ratify the treaty.

The NGOs also said they were deeply concerned by the failure of certain signatories to fully fund the organisation that oversees the treaty.

As of September 4, the US, as the largest contributor, was about €20m behind in fulfilling its assessed contributions, the statement said. A CTBTO spokeswoman confirmed that figure.

Toth confirmed that the organisation was experiencing a “financial crunch,” adding that about a quarter of its budget was missing for the current year.

At the end of the meeting, the conference adopted, by consensus, a final declaration that noted with concern that the treaty has not entered into force 11 years after its opening for signature, and it called upon all states to sign and ratify the treaty without delay – in particular those states needed for its entry into force.

“It is not just a dream – we are turning this dream into reality,” Toth said.