| Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC May 2, 2007 U.S. Participates in 2007 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee Meeting in ViennaStates Party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) will convene April 30 to May 11 in Vienna, Austria, for the first session of a review process that will discuss the operation of the Treaty and how best to fulfill its purpose. The NPT includes close to 190 member states and is second only to the United Nations in membership size. This meeting of the NPT Preparatory Committee is the first of three meetings that will precede, on an annual basis, an NPT Review Conference in 2010 that is the core of the review process. The U.S. delegation to the Preparatory Committee meeting in Vienna, led by U.S. Special Representative on Nonproliferation, Dr. Christopher Ford, will make clear that the most serious challenge facing the NPT is noncompliance with its nonproliferation obligations by countries seeking to develop nuclear weapons. The delegation will also stress the importance of a robust International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards system for the security and safety of peaceful nuclear activities, explain the strong U.S. record of nuclear weapons reductions, and express U.S. support for peaceful nuclear cooperation with States Party in compliance with the Treaty's obligations. Preventing and countering the proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the highest security priorities of the United States, and the NPT remains one of the key elements of U.S. nonproliferation strategy. The U.S. looks forward to working closely with the Chairman-designate for the first Preparatory Committee, Ambassador Yukiya Amano of Japan, to achieve a satisfactory outcome. For additional information on the U.S. and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, please see http://www.state.gov/t/isn/rls/other/c21470.htm. |
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