Statement by the Japanese Delegation at the 42nd Session of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
 

On behalf of the Japanese Government, we would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs of the United Nations, Ms. Angela Kane, for attending our meeting, and for addressing the Commission. Please allow us to take this opportunity to express our hope to see enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO.

We would also like to thank Ambassador Aliyar Lebbe Abdul Azeez, the Chair of Working Group A, Dr. Hein Haak, the Chair of Working Group B, and Sir Michael Weston, the Chair of the Advisory Group, for their outstanding efforts during past sessions.

We would also like to express our appreciation to the Executive Secretary, Dr. Lassina Zerbo, for his opening remarks and to express our sincere appreciation to Ms. Johanna Maria Maryssael Andren, the departing Director of the International Monitoring System Division, for her considerable efforts and contributions to the CTBTO over the last two and a half years.
 

Mr. Chairman,
 

Today, we would like to highlight three important issues for the CTBTO, namely the promotion of early entry-into-force of the treaty, the establishment and maintenance of the verification regime, and  budgetary and administrative issues.
 

[Promotion of Early Entry-into-force]

Mr. Chairman,

We would like to highlight some issues pertaining to the promotion of early entry-into-force of the treaty.

Japan will host the ASEAN Regional Forum Inter-Sessional Meeting (ARF-ISM) on 8 and 9 July this year. The ARF-ISM is a forum with the aim of improving the security environment in the Asia-Pacific region, and the CTBT will be one of the main issues on the agenda.

On 25 September, the “Friends of the CTBT” and Article XIV Conference Co-Presidents are planning to convene the 7th CTBT Friends’ Ministerial Meeting during the High Level segment of the UN General Assembly. We expect that this occasion will reinforce the political impetus towards the early entry-into-force of the treaty, and we hope to
have the attendance of high-level participants from all the States Signatories.

We appreciate the informal briefing organized by the PTS on 27 May on the activities of GEM. We hope that the substantial and transparent activities of GEM will be continued in the future.
 

[Verification Regime]

Mr. Chairman,
 

With respect to the CTBTO’s verification regime, we would like to reiterate our appreciation for the reliable and timely analysis provided by the PTS in the past. Should another nuclear test be detected, we look forward to the continuation of such timely analysis and provision of information by the PTS to States Signatories.

We welcome the installation of ‘Sakura’ routers, being developed with the funding of Japanese voluntary contributions. We hope that they will contribute to significantly speeding up data communication within the PTS and to enhancing connectivity with multiple networks, thereby improving performance of the verification regime.
On-Site Inspections (OSI) are the verification regime’s ultimate and definitive verification measure to determine whether a nuclear test has taken place. In this regard, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for its efforts in hosting the Integrated Field Exercise in 2014 (IFE14). The Japanese Government made a Contribution-in-Kind (CiK) of a transportable gamma-ray measurement system to support the efficient implementation of the IFE14. In addition, our experts provided training on handling the equipment in May this year. We sincerely hope that our support will contribute to the success of the IFE14.

Regarding capacity building, we would like to mention that Japan will convene the JICA Global Seismological Observation Training Course again next year. This course has taken place in Japan annually since 1995. We will invite trainees from 10 countries. We hope the training course will contribute to the capacity building of National Data Centres (NDCs) across the globe.
 

[Budget and Administrative Issues]

Mr. Chairman,
 

Given important functions of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO, it is necessary to ensure that it receive commensurate resources. It is however a reality that many States Signatories are facing severe budgetary constraints. Therefore, Japan expects that the PTS will continue its efforts to make savings and streamline expenses through measures aimed at further efficiency.

Regarding the 2015 Programme and Budget, we hope that substantive discussions will continue among States Signatories and the PTS through informal meetings.
At the 45th Session of Working Group A, it was requested that the PTS report to the Advisory Group and Working Group A on the possibility of biennial budgeting. We think this matter merits serious discussions and hope that such discussions could be held expeditiously.

On the Voluntary Support Forum (VSF), Japan hopes that the forum will contribute to enhancing transparency of expenditures from voluntary contributions to the CTBTO.
We understand that the PTS is working on the reform of employment practices based on the past recommendations of the Preparatory Commission. My delegation reiterates the importance of approving amendments to the Staff Regulations and Rules during this session of the Preparatory Commission.
 

[Conclusion]

Mr. Chairman,