United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday urged all countries that have yet to sign or ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to do so without delay, particularly those countries whose participation is required for the treaty to enter into force.

The UN chief reminded these countries that the treaty contains far-reaching verification provisions to ensure full compliance with its provisions on short notice, and confidence-building measures.

"Its entry into force would strengthen the security of states and peoples everywhere," Annan said.

Annan made the statement on the occasion of the launching of the second joint ministerial statement for the nuclear test ban treaty, delivered in New York on Thursday by Nobuyasu Abe, UN under secretary-general for disarmament affairs.

Annan said the UN General Assembly, with the support of 158 member states, adopted the treaty in September 1996. However, eight years later, the promise of that moment has yet to be realized, he said.

"The longer its entry into force is delayed, the more likely that nuclear testing will resume. Were this to happen, it would be a major setback in non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament efforts," Annan said.

The CTBT has so far secured 172 signatures and 116 ratifications respectively in the world so far. It must be signed and ratified by the 44 states listed in Annex 2 to the treaty. These states formally participated in the work of the 1996 session of the conference on disarmament and possessed nuclear power or research reactors at that time. To date, 32 of the Annex 2 states have ratified the treaty.

Source: Xinhua