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Disarmament DiplomacyIssue No. 28, July 1998Australia Ratifies CTBTOn 9 July, Australia became the fifteenth State to deposit its instrument of ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) with the Treaty's depositary, the UN Secretary-General: on 13 July, it was joined by Brazil (see Documents and Sources for details and reaction). Australia is also one of the 44 States whose ratification is necessary for the treaty to enter into force. Australia was the seventh, and Brazil the eighth, of these States to ratify, the others being Austria, France, Japan, Peru, Slovakia and the UK. Three of the 44 States - India, Pakistan and North Korea - have yet to sign the Treaty. On 23 July, Malaysia became the 150th signatory.According to a 15 July press release issued by the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO PrepCom) in Vienna: "Australia is providing 21 monitoring stations to the global verification regime that the [CTBTO PrepCom]...is putting in place... During 1998, work will be undertaken in Australia on two seismic stations, three infrasound stations, four radionuclide stations and one hydroacoustic station." According to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, in a 10 July statement: "The recent nuclear tests by India and Pakistan highlight the importance of the CTBT. One of the great achievements of the CTBT is to provide a codified international benchmark against which the actions of individual members of the international community in the area of nuclear testing can be judged. Countries which defy this code of behaviour, as India and Pakistan have done, know that they can expect to feel the full weight of international opprobrium." Reports: Australia ratifies Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty, Media Release (FA93) from Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer, Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 10 July; Australia ratifies Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, Press Release from the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO PrepCom), Vienna, 15 July; Malaysia signs Comprehensive Nuclear test-Ban Treaty, Media Release (FA100) from Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer, Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 24 July. © 1998 The Acronym Institute. |