Mr. President,

I would like to begin by congratulating you on your election as the President of the Conference and assure you of our full support and cooperation. We are confident that under your able guidance, positive results could be achieved at this Conference. We wish to also congratulate the other members of the Bureau.

2. I would like to commend the work undertaken by Ambassador Olga Fellicer, Permanent Representative of Mexico in Vienna, for her untiring efforts in achieving consensus on the draft declaration of this Conference, which required extensive consultations and laborious negotiations.

3. Malaysia fully supports the convening of this Conference. As required by the Treaty, this Conference is to consider and decide measures consistent with international law that may be taken to accelerate the ratification process in order to facilitate its early entry into force. We have an important task before us. It is the hope of my delegation that further progress could be achieved in the ratification process as a result of this Conference.
 

Mr. President,

4. Since its opening for signature in New York five years ago, the Treaty has become an international standard to judge the level of acceptance among the world community of its aim to ban forever, all forms of nuclear weapon test explosion. Since then, the Treaty has attracted 161 State Signatories, or approximately 85 percent of the world's sovereign states. Despite the encouraging level of acceptance, its timely entry into force is still uncertain.

5. The Treaty requires the ratification of all 44 states mentioned in its Annex II before it could enter into force. As we know, to-date, 41 of them have signed and out of that, 31 have ratified. My delegation firmly believes that all 44 states have equal responsibility in ensuring that the Treaty becomes a reality. We wish to commend the conscientious effort of the Government of Japan to hold consultations and encourage countries that are still outside the Treaty to join in. The result of these efforts is evident from the increased number of ratifying states since the last conference.

6. My delegation is also of the view that the five Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) have a special responsibility to see that the Treaty enters into force. The NWS bear a special responsibility, not only because they are among the 44, but also because they will be looked upon to provide the leadership in making the ban on nuclear tests a reality.

7. We commend all five NWS for refraining from nuclear testing since the Treaty's opening for signature and we welcome the fact that since the last Article XIV conference, the Russian Federation has joined the UK and France as ratifying states. My delegation strongly adheres to the belief that any measure of success for the CTBT could only be gauged when all the five NWS including the remaining countries in Annex II that have not signed and ratified are on board. This should be the priority for convening this Conference.

8. However, we are concerned and disappointed that the United States has taken the position not to ratify the Treaty and we hope that they would reconsider that position. We view that any positive development on their part in this respect would have an emphatic and equally positive effect on the progress towards entry into force of the Treaty. Indeed, we regret that a decade after the end of the Cold War, the world remained uninsured against the perils of nuclear weapons.

9. We believe that the early ratification by the United States and China would pave the way and encourage the remaining countries in Annex II to sign and ratify, thus enabling the Treaty to enter into force. We believe in the principle of leadership by example and the NWS have an important role to play in this regard.
 

Mr. President,

10. Malaysia shares the view of those in this assembly, who is in favor of the earliest possible entry into force of the CTBT. Malaysia has signed the CTBT in July 1998. We fully recognize the importance of the universal adherence to the CTBT and we hope to join the group of ratifying states soon.

11. It is important to note that a big majority of the states have signed the Treaty and the process of ratification is ongoing. Bearing these facts in mind, it is also important that we keep the long-term interest in sight. The CTBT is intended to enforce a comprehensive ban on nuclear test explosions and to halt the qualitative development of nuclear weapons.

12. In this regard, member states should continue to support the development of the verification regime capable of detecting nuclear explosions anywhere in the world as required by the Treaty. The execution of this formidable task is being ably handled by the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the CTBTO, under the leadership of its Executive Secretary, Dr. Wolfgang Hoffmann. We wish to commend the excellent work being carried out by the Secretariat. The verification network, when completed will represent the most tangible effort and support of the international community towards the aims of the Treaty.

13. Let me conclude by reaffirming Malaysia's full support for the objectives of the CTBT and the effort to secure peace and security through the process of reduction of nuclear arsenals and paving the way for their complete elimination. The negotiation process for the CTBT took almost four decades to complete. Let us all show our highest resolve by ensuring that the Treaty comes into force soon so as to fulfill our commitment to work towards nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. We need to make our world a safer place, free from nuclear weapons and the CTBT is the first step toward this goal.
 

Thank you, Mr. President.
 

Sources

• http://www.un.org/webcast/ctbt/statements/malaysiaE.htm