Burundi ratifies CTBT

The Republic of Burundi ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) on 24 September 2008, the same day as the CTBT Ministerial Meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. This brings the total number of Treaty ratifications to 145. 

Tibor Tóth, the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), welcomed Burundi’s ratification. Adherence to the CTBT is almost universal, with 179 States having signed the Treaty to date. This applies especially to Africa, with Mauritius and Somalia the only countries in the region that have not yet signed.

Four of the 44 States listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty who must sign and ratify before the CTBT can enter into force are in Africa: Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt and South Africa, of which only Egypt has yet to ratify. The other eight States whose ratification is still required for the Treaty to enter into force are: China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States of America. 

The other 35 of the Annex 2 States have ratified the treaty, including the three nuclear weapon States France, Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom. The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions. A verification regime is being built to monitor compliance with the Treaty. By the time the Treaty enters into force, 337 facilities will monitor the oceans, underground and the atmosphere for any sign of a nuclear explosion. 256 facilities have been installed to date and are sending data on a continuous basis to the CTBTO’s International Data Centre in Vienna.