Vienna Chapter
Chairperson,
At the outset, let me once more express the satisfaction of the State
Signatories of the Group of 77 and China in seeing you chairing the 26th
session, Part II of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization in 2006. The Group believes that
under your stewardship and guidance, discussions will lead to fruitful
conclusions and I assure you of our full cooperation.
The Group expresses its appreciation to Ambassador Abdulkadir Bin
Rimdap, Chairperson of Working Group A, and to Mr Hein Haak, Chairperson
of Working Group B, for guiding the work of the subsidiary bodies of the
Preparatory Commission.
Chairperson,
We are pleased to note that, since the last session of the
Preparatory Commission in November 2005, Viet Nam as one of 44 states
listed in Annex 2 has ratified the Treaty. The Group reiterates the
importance of the universalization of the Treaty and its early entry into
force. The Group calls on all countries that have not yet signed and
ratified the Treaty to do so at the earliest possible date, and looks
forward to discussing future ways of promoting the entry into force of the
CTBT.
The Group takes note with appreciation of the Executive Secretary's
comprehensive written and oral reports and would like to express its views
on the following agenda items, which will be considered during the present
meeting of the Preparatory Commission:
Chairperson,
The Group's position on the participation of experts from developing
countries in Working Group B is well known and documented. The Group
expresses its appreciation to Mr Andrea Gue', Chairperson of the
open-ended working group, for holding informal consultations to achieve
consensus on this issue. The Group extends its appreciation to the
flexible manner in which delegations are prepared to find a solution.
The Group is of the view that the participation of experts from
developing countries would greatly facilitate and enhance the work of WGB
and make our Organization more representative and participatory. It would
also in the long run permit achieving consensus during the initial session
of the Conference of the States Parties supposed to adopt all the
operational manuals and relevant technical documents. The Group reiterates
its call that the best approach at this stage would be to make funds
available in the regular budget to cover expenses for representatives of
developing countries to participate in WGB meetings on the basis of three
representatives each from the following regions: namely; Africa, Asia and
Latin America and the Caribbean.
Chairperson,
Concerning the report of WGA, the Group wishes to reiterate its
principled positions on a number of issues that are important to the
Group.
Concerning the composition of the Provisional Technical Secretariat,
the Group of 77 and China wishes to re-emphasise that the seven year
service limit for Professional and internationally recruited General
Service staff members should be strictly observed. In exceptional
circumstances, when the seven-year limit is exceeded, the PTS should
endeavour to inform State Signatories accordingly.
Nevertheless, the Group notes with concern that the overall
representation of developing countries in the Provisional Technical
Secretariat remains unbalanced. In this regard, the Group would like to
reiterate the need to increase the presence of staff members from
developing countries in the PTS. The Group calls upon the Secretariat to
give due attention to this criterion in the recruitment process of new
staff members, who will replace those who have reached their service
limit.
The Group notes that some developed countries are pushing very hard
for greater participation of their nationals as PTS employees. Some
developed countries insist on having a ratio that represented a size of a
State Signatories financial contribution. There is no legal basis for this
- Rule 4.2 of the Staff regulations states that "contributions"
will be taken into consideration, as appropriate. The Group would like to
point out that Rule 4.2 refers to contributions in general, not financial
contributions. The deployment of IMS stations in developing countries is
one of our main contributions to the PTS. Other contributions include
ratification of the Treaty, hosting of CTBTO workshops, and promoting the
early entry into force of the Treaty. The Group proposes that the
composition of the Secretariat reflects the universalization of the
Treaty.
The adequate representation of women should also be observed. The
Group of 77 and China would like to request the Secretariat to report on
efforts made on those two issues, for consideration at every session of
the PrepCom.
Chairperson,
During the 29th Session of the WGA, the Group noted that it could not
consider the report of the Advisory Group and its recommendations as
contained in document CTBT.AG-26/1. The Group is still of the view that
the Advisory Group's report should be circulated in a timely manner that
would enable State Signatories to comment on the important issues
contained therein. The Group reiterates that some of the recommendations
are of a technical nature and require further in-depth consultations with
State Signatories and Ratifiers. The Group therefore requests that
informal consultations be held with the Advisory Group to discuss the
possible financial and administrative implications the recommendations may
have for developing countries.
More specifically and regarding the various recommendations of the
Advisory Group, the G77 and China believes that the issues raised by the
External Auditor following his review of Governance arrangements need more
in depth consideration. The Group shares the view of the External Auditor
that his role is to provide an audit opinion, not to provide an oversight
body. However, the Group is of the view that the Evaluation section has a
distinct mandate aimed at supporting professional evaluation practices
throughout the organization and to enhance the overall credibility and
utility of the evaluation function in line with the Norms and Standards
for Evaluation in the UN System and the orientations the United Nations
Evaluation Group (UNEG) of which the PTS is member.
Therefore, the Group cannot accept the WGA recommendation to the
Commission that as an alternative to recommendation 3 of the EA, it
consider testing, on a trial basis for three years, distributing to
existing bodies the functions listed by the External Auditor in particular
to the EA and the AG. The Group would rather prefer to wait for a report
of the Executive Secretary on the measures he intends to undertake in
response to the EA' s recommendation on governance, including
strengthening the Internal Audit capacity, enhancing the visibility and
authority of audit recommendations and improving coordination between
Internal Audit and the Evaluation Section.
On Human Resources Management, the G77 and China would like to stress
the importance it attaches to the Advisory Group's recommendation 17 which
reads "the Secretariat should ensure that the number and reasons for
contract extensions are reported to the Preparatory Commission in order to
emphasise the exceptional nature of the contract extensions granted to
staff members and that costs arising from the process are monitored."
Furthermore, the Group noted with concern the comments of the
Advisory Group regarding underspending in the General Fund and for Common
Staff Costs and stresses the need to implement in full previous
recommendations related to these issues. The Group noted with the same
concern the comments regarding the mix of inflation and staff cost
increase, and supports the recommendation 12 contained in para. 92 of the
AG report requesting the Executive Secretary to show changes in lapse rate
as programme changes and not as price changes.
In more general terms, the Group urges the Secretariat to adopt a
more prudent budgeting policy in order to minimize underspending and
increase the overall budget implementation rate.
Chairperson,
The Group of 77 and China thanks the Provisional Technical
Secretariat for elaborating the budget proposal for 2007, and would like
to make the following comments:
(a) The Group is of the view that the 2006 Programme and Budget
increase was an exception that included increases to cover the costs
associated with the VIC Security Enhancement Costs. The 2007 budget should
therefore be compared to the 2005 programme and budget which reflected
zero real growth.
(b) The Group notes that the PTS has made efforts to present a budget
within a realistic and reasonable financial framework. The Group
reiterates that the budget proposal should reflect the principle of zero
real growth. In this context, the next draft budget proposal should take
due account of the comments made by the Advisory Group during its 26th
session.
(c) The Group takes note that the 2007 budget for the verification
related programme is based on a number of factors, such as the PTS
capacity to absorb new work, and the need to propose a budget that is
realistic and reasonable to cover the cost of the build-up of the
International Monitoring System. The Group appreciates the PTS efforts to
engage State Signatories on any significant additional costs that the
verification process may cause.
(d) The Group expresses its appreciation to the PTS for the
substantive increase in the allocation of funds for the OSI Integrated
Exercise. The Group thanks the Government of Brazil for agreeing to host
the 2008 OSI exercise.
(e) The Group is of the view that in the context of the efficient
utilisation of scarce resources available to the PTS there is a need to
focus on work methodology. In this regard, consideration should be given
at the next meeting of the Preparatory Commission to rationalise and
streamline the number of meetings of the subsidiary bodies of the Prepcom,
including through focused joint working group meetings. The existing
programme of work places a logistical and financial burden on developing
countries when participating in subsidiary bodies of the Prepcom.
Chairperson,
The Group takes note that at Part II of the 25th Session, the PTS
adopted the final report of the external review team as a basis for
proceeding with the restructuring of the PTS. The Group requests that the
PTS should continue to keep State Signatories informed on the progress of
the restructuring process.
Chairperson,
The Group notes that the 26th Session of WGB tasked the PTS to
prepare an options paper which covers technical, legal, administrative and
budgetary implications concerning the utilisation of the primary and
auxiliary seismic stations. The Group looks forward to participating in
discussions concerning the options paper and notes that it will be
discussed in Part 11 of the 27th Session of WGB in September 2006.
The Group would like to recall that the following information needs
to be adequately addressed in the report:
a) The PTS should consult with States Signatory and Ratifiers on the
legal implications that the transmission of data and information for
tsunami alert will have for developing countries;
b) Technical information on what data would be transmitted by tsunami
warning centres as recognised by UNESCO
c) Information on confidentiality issues and the responsibility of
the international and national institutions interested in receiving the
data;
d) Budgetary and financial implications of this proposal;
e) Proposals for the establishment and capacity-building of NDCs in
developing countries; and
f) Technical information about the compatibility between the data
that could be provided by the PTS and by other international disaster
alert organizations.
Chairperson,
The Group recalls the decision of the Commission at Part III of its
25th session to place this important issue on the agenda of the 26th
Preparatory Commission. The Group expresses its strong support for the
request by Palestine to be granted observer status within the Preparatory
Commission for the CTBTO and that a decision to this end is taken at this
session of the Preparatory Commission.
I thank you.
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