Statement by the Japanese Delegation at the Forty-Second Session of Working Group B of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
 

On behalf of the government of Japan, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Executive Secretary, Dr. Zerbo, for his opening statement. Let me take this opportunity to confirm Japan’s intention to further strengthen its cooperation with the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS).

Let me also thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your efforts to coordinate this Working Group B meeting, and all the Task Leaders and Friends of the Chair for their on-going dedicated work.
 

Mr. Chairman,

Japan is the only country that has experienced atomic bombings, and disarmament and non-proliferation are cornerstones of Japan’s foreign policy. The CTBT is one of the most important pillars of the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Japan will continue to support the activities of the CTBTO.

We recognize that the two most important missions of the CTBTO are the further building-up of the verification regime and the promotion of the early entry into force of the CTBT. We support the basic direction of the “Midterm Strategy: 2014-2017” and hope for its steady implementation.
 

[Build-up of the verification regime]
 

Mr. Chairman,

On the three pillars of the verification regime, the priority issues for the future in our view are as follows:

With regard to the IMS (International Monitoring System), we expect that the PTS will continue to make efforts to proceed with the construction and certification of noble gas monitoring facilities, as well as the construction of IMS stations in geographically remote areas and areas experiencing political difficulties, while aiming at a cost efficient budget implementation. For the recapitalization of IMS stations which require a large amount of investment, we hope that cost-effective and easily repairable technology will be selected.

With regard to the IDC (International Data Centre), we appreciate the high analytical capabilities, which were manifested by the timely provision of information by the PTS on the detection of the nuclear test conducted by North Korea last year.

We are pleased to note that the data transmission from the IMS stations in China has been initiated and we highly commend the PTS and China for their efforts. We hope that those IMS facilities will be certified shortly and that the data will be integrated into IDC operational analysis as soon as possible.

We hope that this positive trend will also favourably influence other countries yet to start data transmission to the IDC or yet to establish IMS stations as required by the Treaty to proactively start such processes as soon as possible. In this regard, we would like to call for further action by the States Signatories and the PTS.

On capacity building, we believe it is important to promote the exchange of knowledge between National Data Centres (NDCs) in the same region. In this regard, we hope that the East Asia Regional National Data Centre Workshop, which was co-organized by the PTS and the US State Department in 2012, will be held regularly in the future.
Civil and scientific uses of CTBTO data provide significant benefits to the States Signatories. In this context, we welcome the capacity building efforts of the PTS to enhance the ability of NDCs to use IMS data. We believe that the growing recognition of the benefits derived from civil and scientific uses of the CTBTO data will further strengthen the momentum towards the entry into force of the CTBT and its universalization.

On-site inspections (OSI) are the verification regime’s final and definitive verification measure to verify whether a nuclear test took place. The Integrated Field Exercise in 2014 (IFE14) is one of the most important undertakings of the CTBTO this year. IFE14 is important not only for strengthening the OSI regime. Since IFE14 will take place in the Middle East, we hope that this will increase the interest in the Treaty as well as the involvement of all countries in the region. We hope that the further preparation of IFE14 will proceed smoothly and that IFE14 will be implemented successfully.
 

[Contributions of Japan]
 

Mr. Chairman,

Japan’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, Ambassador Ozawa, chairs the Preparatory Commission this year. We intend to manage the meetings efficiently and effectively and to promote cooperation and the active involvement of all States Signatories to support the activities of the PTS.

Japan recently made a voluntary contribution of USD 455,000 to enhance the verification regime and to support the activities of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEM). We hope that this contribution, together with our previous voluntary contribution to strengthen the Atmospheric Transport Modelling (ATM) system, will further improve the detection capability of the verification regime.

Japan made a contribution-in-kind (CiK) of OSI related equipment, namely a transportable gamma-ray measurement system, to support the efficient implementation of the IFE14. Japanese experts will provide their knowledge on handling the equipment and further contribute to the success of IFE14.

To support capacity building, Japan has been convening the annual JICA Global Seismological Observation Training Course since 1996. This year, the course is taking place from January to March. We highly appreciate the continuous cooperation of the PTS for this course. This year, the Director of the IDC Division, Mr. Bell, visited Japan to hold a lecture. 185 people from 70 countries have participated in this course in the last 19 years and Japan is committed to continue this successful course in the future.

The “Friends of the CTBT”, namely Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands, and the Article XIV Conference Co-Chairs, currently Hungary and Indonesia, plan to hold the biennial Friends’ Ministerial Meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September this year to promote early entry into force of the Treaty. Japan will make utmost efforts to contribute to the process.
 

[Conclusion]

Mr. Chairman,

The issues being discussed at WGB form the basis of all activities and discussions at the CTBTO. They include highly technical issues which are topics of great interest to all States Signatories. We hope that more opportunities will be provided for delegations in Vienna to hear briefings about them throughout the year.

We expect that the difficult financial situation many States Signatories are experiencing will be taken into account by the PTS and the delegations during the discussions at this WGB session. On the basis of the discussions at WGB, we expect that a realistic programme and budget for 2015 will be prepared through WGA and the Preparatory Commission.

In closing, I would like to mention that we look forward to engaging in constructive discussions to make tangible progress on the issues at hand during this WGB session. I would further like to assure you, Mr. Chairman, and the Task Leaders, of Japan’s continuous support to achieve the States Signatories’ common aim of a steady development of the verification regime.
 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.