Statement by the H.E. Mr. Mitsuru Kitano, Permanent Representative, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan at the Forty-Sixth Session of Working Group A

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
 

On behalf of the Government of Japan, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Chair of Working Group A, Ambassador Aliyar Lebbe Abdul Azeez, for your dedicated work and to the Chair of the Advisory Group, Sir Michael Weston, for his excellent leadership during the Forty-Third Session of the Advisory Group.
We would also like to express our appreciation to the Executive Secretary’s opening remarks delivered by Mr Oleg Rozhkov.
 

[Promotion of Entry into force of the Treaty]
 

Mr. Chairman,
 

The “Friends of the CTBT” (Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands) together with the Article XIV conference co-presidents (Hungary and Indonesia) convened the Seventh CTBT Ministerial Meeting during the High-Level week of the Sixty-Ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 26 September. The meeting was a great success with distinguished participants from over 80 countries, including 23 foreign ministers. We were delighted to see that the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-moon, the United States Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, and other leaders could attend and shared their views in the Meeting. We also appreciate the fact that the Meeting welcomed the recent ratification by the Congo.

The Meeting issued the Joint Ministerial Statement on the CTBT, with which many countries have already associated, and it generated political momentum towards the early entry into force and universalization of the Treaty. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank all countries that participated in the Meeting. The statement will be registered as a UN document, and we would like to invite all countries that have not done so to consider associating with the Statement.

Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the only country ever to have experienced atomic bombings in war, we are determined to lead the promotion of nuclear disarmament. To this end, Japan will host a meeting of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEM) in Hiroshima next year.
 

[IFE14]
 

Mr. Chairman,
 

We hope for the successful implementation of the Integrated Field Exercise in 2014 (IFE14) in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan next month. It is important to follow up on the IFE14 by evaluating the exercise and lesson learnt from it. In this regard, we support the current plan to hold two workshops after the IFE14 as positive steps, and appreciate efforts made by concerned parties in this regard.
 

[The CTBTO Budget]
 

Mr. Chairman,
 

We highly value the informal meetings on the budget chaired by Ambassador Azeez. We further appreciate the repeated efforts by the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) to find savings and to streamline the budget and would like to appeal to the PTS to continue such efforts as done in the past. On the other hand, there remains the possibility that further budget reduction may directly affect the implementation of the CTBTO’s mandate. From this point of view, we support the Final Draft of the Programme and Budget for 2015 as proposed by the PTS, which we regard to be at an appropriate resource level.

As regards the introduction of a biennial budget system, we believe that such an approach is suitable for the CTBTO, an organization with the need for long term funding. There are mainly two advantages to a biennial budget. First, there is a possibility of saving on procurement, and second, it would facilitate the efficient use of the resources and time of the personnel in charge of the Programme and Budget. In this respect, and in line with the recommendation of the Advisory Group, we strongly support the introduction of the biennial budget starting from the 2016-2017 budgetary cycle.

With regard to the introduction of multiyear funding modality, my delegation understands rationale behind this proposal. It would be essential inter alia to examine the types of projects that shall be included in this modality. We also need to further study how to ensure there are appropriate checks and balances as well as transparency as to the use of the fund. My delegation believes that it is appropriate to move forward with the discussion on this modality taking into account the points I just stated and views expressed by other delegations.

We also welcome the fact that the International Public Sector Accounting Standards-compliant Enterprise Resource Planning (IPSAS-compliant ERP) system has been successfully implemented and commend the PTS’s efforts in this endeavour.
 

[Conclusion]
 

Mr. Chairman,
 

Let me conclude my remarks by expressing my delegation’s hope that constructive discussions will be held during this session that will contribute towards achieving our common goals of early entry into force of the Treaty and the establishment of the verification regime.
 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.