Mr. President,

 I congratulate you on your election to chair this Conference and wish you every success in carrying out this delicate task.  I join the previous speakers in thanking the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the depository of the Treaty, for organizing this Conference, and the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for his vigorous statement. Here today let me once again express to the government and people of the United States our deepest solidarity following the dreadful terrorists acts perpetrated against them.

 Turning to the works of this Conference, let me begin by repeating the wish - already expressed by Belgium on behalf of the European Union - that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty might soon enter into force. We hope that this Conference will conclude with a strong unequivocal signal encouraging the countries that have not yet ratified the Treaty to do so as quickly as possible.

 Today the unprecedented dimensions of the international terrorist threat can only strengthen our determination. It challenges us on a global scale, so it is on a global scale that we must respond. Thus we are pleased that the First Committee of the General Assembly has just approved a draft resolution on “Multilateral cooperation in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation and global efforts against terrorism.”

 Existing international instruments for fighting terrorism must obviously be used and strengthened. But we should not underestimate the risk that weapons of mass destruction might fall into the hands of those who place themselves both outside of international law and outside of the basic values of peaceful coexistence among peoples.

 Therefore, Mr. President, you can count on the full support of the Italian delegation for the action to promote an instrument that we consider an absolute priority in the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Mr. President,

 Signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was the culmination of the international community’s determination - throughout more than fifty years - to stop all new nuclear tests. The Treaty introduces an innovative system of mechanisms and controls to assure effective deterrence of possible violations. While the monitoring system is already in the process of being set up, implementation of the verification regime is contingent upon the formal entry into force of the Treaty, when all the signatory States confirm the commitments contemplated by the Treaty.

 The Treaty should also be viewed in the context of other legal instruments on nuclear disarmament. Last year’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference called the future entry into force of the CTBT as the first step of the comprehensive action plan spelled out in the Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. Especially in the current international circumstances, this is the benchmark on which all the States gathered here today are staking their credibility.

Mr. President,

 It is certainly positive that so many countries have voiced their support for extending the moratorium on nuclear testing. But such statements are no longer enough. The time has come for incontrovertible commitments. We must have the courage to stand up and say that nuclear tests are no longer necessary and then act accordingly. No loophole can be left that might trigger a revival of the arms race. This is not what the world needs, nor is it the outcome that international public opinion expects. This is why Italy, together with the other European Union countries, is actively promoting the signing and ratification of the Treaty.

Mr. President,

 From the beginning my country has contributed wholeheartedly to drafting the text of the Treaty and setting up the Vienna structures, drawing on our experience in the field of seismic and radionuclide detection. As you know, Italy has one of the auxiliary seismic stations and one of the 16 radionuclide laboratories indicated in the Treaty. In its first four years of activity, the Preparatory Commission has achieved positive results. Now that the Provisional Technical Secretariat has been installed, the necessary legal, technical and administrative framework is in place to execute the massive investments needed to build the monitoring system. Many of the necessary site surveys of future monitoring stations have been completed, and construction of the stations and the International Data Center is underway. The volume of investments to be made is huge, so we hope that all the States parties to the Agreement will realize the importance of this effort and contribute to it.

Mr. President,

 In closing allow me to reiterate a concept in which we firmly believe: the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is a test case of the international community’s capacity to proceed, without delay, down the road to nuclear non-proliferation. This is why it is up to us to make this Conference a success.

 Thank you.
 

Sources

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