Invitation to press briefing
with the Foreign Ministers
of Austria and Costa Rica
at conference to promote
the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

The Foreign Ministers of Austria and Costa Rica, H. E. Ursula Plassnik and H. E. Bruno Stagno Ugarte, will give a press briefing at the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the  Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).  The press briefing will take place on Tuesday, 18 September 2007, at 11.00, at the Kleiner Redoutensaal at the former imperial palace Hofburg in Vienna, Austria.  Ms Plasnik, Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria, and Mr. Ugarte, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Worship of Costa Rica, are Presidents of the Conference and will brief on the political highlights of the Conference.   H. E. Mr. Sergio Duarte, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and Mr. Tibor Toth, Executive Secretary of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission, will also be present. The Conference will take place on 17 and 18 September 2007 at the Hofburg in Vienna.  The aim of the Conference is to promote the Treaty and to call upon States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify it without delay. A Final Declaration is expected to send a strong political message and outline the additional ways to promote the entry into force of the Treaty.  High-level representatives from over 100 countries are expected to attend the Conference.  To date, around ten countries have confirmed their representation on ministerial level.  It is anticipated that States which have not yet signed or ratified the Treaty will decide to do so prior to or during the Conference, as has been the case with previous Conferences.  The most recent ratification of the CTBT was by the Dominican Republic on 4 September 2007.  On 1 August 2007, Palau ratified the Treaty. To date, 177 countries have signed and 140 have ratified the Treaty. Out of the 44 so-called Annex 2 States whose ratification is needed for the Treaty to enter into force, 34 have ratified it.  The ten remaining States are China, Colombia, the Democratic People?s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States of America.  Three of these States, the Democratic People?s Republic of Korea, India and Pakistan, have not signed the CTBT.

For further information on the CTBTO, please see www.ctbto.org or contact:
Annika Thunborg, Chief, Public Information  
T    +43 1 26030-6375  
E    [email protected]
M    +43 699 1459 6375       
I    www.ctbto.org