Background of the Treaty and the International Organization

Canada has long supported negotiated efforts on international nuclear arms control and disarmament, and was among the first states to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) on September 24, 1996 at the UN General Assembly. The Treaty represents the achievement of years of talks held at the Conference on Disarmament (CD) and imposes a total ban on nuclear test detonations for any purpose.

As more countries sign the Treaty, the Preparatory Commission and the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) work towards the eventual universal enforcement of the Treaty through the implementation of the Verification Regime and a comprehensive process of consultation. As of June 29 2005, of the 44 nuclear powers whose support is required under Annex 2 of the Treaty, 33 nations have completed the full ratification process and 41 states have signed. In addition, 121 states have ratified the Treaty. The CTBTO and its members convene regularly at the Entry Into Force Conference to facilitate the timely resolution to the complex issues of compliance with countries who have yet to sign and complete the ratification process.

The International Monitoring System (IMS), an element of the Verification Regime, is composed of a world-wide network of 321 monitoring stations and 16 radionuclide laboratories capable of capturing detonation signatures anywhere under the sea, underground and in the air. The stations and laboratories transmit data to the International Data Centre (IDC), also part of the Verification Regime. The IDC analyses and makes the data from the stations and its analysis available to member States of the CTBT. Member States can request the data from any station in the network.