2014: Seventh Joint Ministerial Statement

Around 30 foreign ministers and in total representatives from over 90 countries met on Friday 26 September at the UN in New York to issue a joint call for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The meeting was opened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and chaired by Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. Opening statements were also made by United States Secretary of State John Kerry, Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo.

In opening the meeting, Ban Ki-moon called upon the eight Annex 2 States to ratify the CTBT without further delay, underscoring his strong personal commitment to the Treaty and referring to the fact that he previously served as Chairman to the CTBTO’s executive body and during his term as Secretary-General had not missed a single CTBT Ministerial Meeting.

[The CTBT] verification regime is one of the great accomplishments of the modern world. The international monitoring system is nearly complete; it is robust, it is effective, and it has contributed critical scientific data on everything from tsunami warnings to tracking radioactivity and nuclear reactor accidents.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

Addressing a CTBT Ministerial Meeting for the first time, Kerry stated “I come here to reiterate the Obama's Administration’s unshakable commitment to see this Treaty ratified and enter into force,” But he said there was “no reason for the other Annex 2 States to wait for the United States to complete the ratification process.”

The Annex 2 States are the countries that have yet to sign or ratify the CTBT for the Treaty to enter into force . These are China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States.

Zerbo assured Member States that their investments in the CTBT’s verification regime were well placed, and the CTBTO stood ready to prove “that the International Monitoring System works as the deterrent against nuclear testing that it was designed for.”

Although the Treaty is yet to enter into force, the nuclear test moratorium has become a de facto international norm. However, without the lasting and legally-binding effect of entry into force of the Treaty, such a norm remains fragile.

Joint Ministerial Statement

Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini addressed the CTBT Ministerial Meeting on behalf of the EU, thanking Zerbo for the "excellent work he and the organization is doing" and expressed the EU’s strong desire to make progress with the CTBT’s entry into force. Mogherini also underlined the EU’s continued financial support for the CTBTO, including through significant voluntary contributions.

The ministers urged “all States that have not done so to sign and ratify the Treaty, in particular the remaining eight Annex 2 States.” The statement further acknowledged the role of the Group of Eminent Persons in assisting in the entry-into-force process and highlighted the importance of the upcoming on-site inspection simulation, the Integrated Field Exercise 2014 (IFE14), in Jordan.

CTBT Ministerial Meeting - Friday, 26 Sept. 2014

	State/Chair	Speaker
1	Joint Ministerial Statement [PDF]	States committed to ratify the Treaty
2	Welcome remarks by The Chair [PDF]	H.E. Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan
3	United Nations [Link]	Mr. Ban Ki-moon United Nations Secretary-General
4	United States	H.E. Mr. John Kerry Secretary of State, USA
5	Germany [PDF]	H.E. Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany
6	Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization [PDF]	Mr. Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary
7	Netherlands	H.E. Mr. Frans Timmermans Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
8	Statement by the Article XIV Co-Chair - Indonesia	H.E. Mr. Marty M. Natalegawa Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia
9	Republic of the Congo [PDF - French]	H.E. Mr Basile Ikouébé Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of the Congo
10	Canada	Ms. Kerry Buck Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister for International Security
11	European Union [PDF]	The Hon Federica Mogherini EU-High Representative designate and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy
12	Iraq [PDF - Arabic]	H.E. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Jaafari Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq
13	Australia [PDF]	Ms. Harinder Sidhu, First Assistant Secretary, Multilateral Policy Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
14	Algeria [PDF - French]	H.E. Ramtane Lamamra, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria
15	Argentina [PDF - Spanish]	H.E. Edurado Zuain, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina
16	Finland [PDF]	H.E. Ambassador Kai Sauer, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations
17	Hungary [PDF]	H.E. Dr Istvan Mikola, State Secretary representing the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in his capacity as the Co-President of the Article XIV Conference.
18	Jordan [PDF - Arabic]	H.E. Nasser Judeh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
19	Latvia [PDF]	Ms. Baiba Braže, Ambassador, Director-General for Security Policy and International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
20	Marshall Islands [PDF]	H.E. Tony deBrum, Minister of Foreign Affairs Republic of the Marshall Islands
21	Russia [PDF] [PDF - Russian]	Mr. Alexey Yu. Karpov, Deputy Director of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation