Committee Resolution
1999 Annual Session
Resolution on The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)
Presented by the Defence and Security Committee
Amsterdam, 15 November 1999

The Assembly,

1.Retaining its belief that nuclear weapons still play a role as the ultimate deterrent against threats to the security of the Alliance;

2.Endorsing the 1999 NATO Strategic Concept language stating that "the fundamental purpose of the nuclear forces of the Allies is political: to preserve peace and prevent coercion and any kind of war";

3.Firmly believing that a prudent reduction in the world's nuclear arsenals will enhance global security;

4.Recognising that the 40-year effort to secure a ban on nuclear weapons testing culminated in 1996 with the conclusion of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty;

5.Underlining the merits of the CTBT for the process of nuclear disarmament;

6.Praising the leadership shown by the United States in initiating and successfully concluding this landmark arms control agreement;

7.Commending the 155 nations that have signed the CTBT and the 52 that have ratified it, including 16 Alliance members;

8.Hopeful that other Alliance members will ratify the Treaty before the end of 1999;

9.Deeply regretting that the United States Senate rejected ratification of CTBT by a 51-48 vote against the treaty;

10.Noting that the current moratorium on nuclear testing by the declared nuclear powers has not undermined the Alliance's nuclear deterrent;

11.Cognisant that the Alliance's nuclear powers will be able to assure the reliability of their arsenals through a science-based stockpile stewardship programme;

12.Understanding that an end to nuclear testing will lock in the decisive advantage that the United States enjoys with its nuclear arsenal and make it more difficult for aspiring nuclear powers to develop such a capability;

13.Welcoming the improvements in the detection of nuclear weapons testing that would accompany the entry into force of the CTBT and the implementation of the Treaty's verification regime;

14.Fearing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and potential nuclear arms races between newly declared nuclear powers;

15.Knowing that the CTBT is essential to further reductions in nuclear arsenals and restraints on proliferation;

16.URGES the Parliaments of those NATO countries that have not yet ratified the Treaty to ratify the CTBT at the earliest possible time, in keeping with their constitutional processes and requirements;

17.URGES the United States Senate to reconsider its position on ratification of the CTBT as soon as possible;

18.URGES the member governments and parliaments of the North Atlantic Alliance to continue working toward arms control agreements that will enable the verifiable reduction of nuclear arsenals that threaten the security of the Alliance.