CTBTO
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-ban Treaty Organisation ( CTBTO)
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) stipulates total ban on all kinds of nuclear tests aiming at the development of nuclear weapons. A total of 176 countries have signed the Treaty and 134 countries have ratified it (August. 2005). Iceland ratified the Treaty 26 June 2000. The Treaty has not yet entered into force since Annex II of the Treaty stipulates that the ratification of 44 stipulated states, which all possess either nuclear power or research reactors, is needed beforehand. To date (August 2006) 34 of those states have ratified the Treaty but the following 11 have not done so: The United States, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, China, Columbia, North-Korea and Pakistan. The last Annex II country to ratify the Treaty was Vietnam on 10th of March 2006 Since the Treaty has not yet entered into force special Preparatory Committee was set up in Vienna to prepare the ratification of the Treaty.
The significance of the Treaty lies in the fact that States in possession of Nuclear Weapons are prohibited from testing Nuclear Weapons. The CTBT furthermore prohibits countries not in possession of Nuclear Weapons to develop such weapons by way of nuclear tests. One of the main aims of the CTBTO is to develop an international monitoring system based on a net of 337 monitoring stations. Such monitoring facilities must be in place when the Treaty enters into force. Two such monitoring facilities are in place in Iceland, one for monitoring earthquakes and the other for measuring radioactivity.
Ambassador Sveinn Björnsson presented dr. Wolfgang Hoffmann, former Exectutive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), with his letter of credentials as a Permanent Representative of Iceland to the CTBTO on the 28th of July 2004.