International cooperation workshop
to take place in Fiji

A workshop on CTBTO International Cooperation and National Implementation of the Treaty for States in the Pacific will open in Nadi, Fiji, on 16 June 2003. The two-day workshop, hosted jointly by the Government of the Republic of the Fiji Islands and the CTBTO Preparatory Commission, brings together representatives from 16 States in the Pacific, and builds upon the Regional Workshop for CTBTO International Cooperation and National Implementation/Ratification Procedures held in Beijing, China, in June 2000. It also draws on the seminar on CTBT legal and technical issues which was organized on the margins of the United Nations Asia Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference held in Wellington, New Zealand, in March 2001. The opening session will be attended by H.E. Mr Kaliopate Tavola, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Fiji and Mr Wolfgang Hoffmann, Executive Secretary of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission. The workshop will provide an overview of the work of the Preparatory Commission and the technologies of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban (CTBT) global verification regime, and will review practical means to further enhance understanding of the Treaty by States in the Pacific. The verification regime, which uses seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide monitoring technologies, must be operational when the Treaty enters into force. The workshop also aims to advance International Monitoring System (IMS) work in the region, to identify needs for national implementation of the Treaty, and to consider possible applications of the Treaty?s verification technologies for civil and scientific purposes. In addition, the workshop will explore opportunities for strengthening cooperation among States in the Pacific in various areas, including the possible establishment of regional data centres. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans all nuclear weapon test explosions in any environment. Drafted at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, and opened for signature on 24 September 1996, the Treaty must be ratified by 44 named States before it can enter into force.

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Annika Thunborg, Chief, Public Information  
T    +43 1 26030-6375  
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