Italy signs Facility Agreement

Italy and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) concluded a Facility Agreement on 29 March 2006. The Agreement was signed by H.E. Ambassador Angelo Gabriele De Ceglie, Permanent Representative of Italy, on behalf of Italy, and by Mr. Tibor Tóth, Executive Secretary, on behalf of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission. The Facility Agreement will regulate the conduct of activities in respect of auxiliary seismic station AS50 in Enna, Sicily, and radionuclide laboratory RL10 in Rome. It grants the Commission the necessary legal authority to carry out work on these International Monitoring System (IMS) facilities on Italy's territory. Italy signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty on 24 September 1996 and ratified it on 1 February 1999. The IMS, consisting of 337 facilities, is part of the global verification system to verify compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The CTBTO Preparatory Commission has now signed 34 Facility Agreements with States hosting IMS facilities.