Statement by Foreign Minister Yohei Kono on the Issuing of Final Declaration at the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Tan Treaty (CTBT)

October 8, 1999

1. Japan dispatched former Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura as the representative of the Government of Japan at the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), held in Vienna for three days from October 6, and exerted every possible effort to organize the final declaration and other matters as chair of this Conference. Japan sincerely welcomes the adoption of the final declaration by a unanimous vote which included not only those countries which had ratified the Treaty but by those which had signed the Treaty.
   
   
2. Japan has been striving to make this Conference send a strong message to the international community for an early entry into force of the CTBT, and considers it important for the international community, with this declaration in mind, to renew its endeavors toward an early entry into force of the Treaty. Japan also considers it important that the countries concerned, the United Nations, CTBT-related organizations and others keep in close contact with each other, cooperate and make further efforts to promote the ratification of this Treaty. In particular, Japan strongly hopes that the Nuclear-Weapon-States which have not yet ratified the Treaty (U.S.A., China and Russia) will ratify it as soon as possible.
   
   
3. Japan intends to further strengthen its overall diplomatic efforts including the active use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and dispatch of missions to the countries concerned whose ratification is prerequisite for the entry into force in order to encourage them to sign and ratify the Treaty.
   
   

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