Colombian Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs meets with Executive Secretary

On the margin of the fourth Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean which took place in Vienna, Austria, on 12 May 2006, Mr. Tibor Tóth, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), met with H.E. Camilo Reyes, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, at the residence of the Permanent Representative of Columbia, Ambassador Rosso José Serrano Cadena, who was also present at the meeting. The Executive Secretary spoke about the role of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. He provided an overview of the work of the Commission in establishing the verification regime and stated that the International Monitoring System (IMS) was emerging clearly as a functioning system. He underlined the democratic nature of the CTBT verification regime and stressed that IMS stations were assets to their host countries. The Executive Secretary also spoke about the potential application of data and products for civil and scientific purposes, such as tsunami warning. Vice-Minister Reyes and the Executive Secretary spoke about the particular situation of Colombia in relation to the ratification of the CTBT. Colombia is one of the 44 States whose ratification is required for the Treaty's entry into force. It signed the CTBT on 24 September 1996, the day the Treaty was opened for signature, but had not yet ratified it. Colombia hosts one IMS facility, primary seismic station at El Rosal.