Ukraine attaches great importance to the strengthening of the review process of the NPT and enhancing its effectiveness.

We welcome the initiatives advanced by States parties with a view to improve the review process and to strengthen credibility of the Treaty. In this regard, my delegation would like to particularly note very useful proposals put forward by Canada at the previous and current Prepcom sessions.

Ukraine agrees that the Treaty needs a permanent political and administrative support in order to provide a timely and adequate response to the challenges facing the NPT regime.

We support the establishment of a standing bureau, which could be comprised of recent past and current chairs having authority to convene extraordinary sessions of the Conference when situations arise that threaten the integrity and viability of the Treaty.    

Since most of the other treaties benefit from secretariats, we believe that the time has come for the NPT to fill the institutional gap by establishing a body, which would coordinate and manage the NPT business. Another reason in favour of the creation of such a body is that the NPT and its States parties lack an institutional memory as well as an official repository of documents and an administration. Such a Secretariat could also serve as a focal point for collecting and managing reports under NPT Article VI and those related to the implementation of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East.

We believe that the above proposals could provide much needed coherence, continuity and enhance accountability within the NPT review process.

Ukraine would like to suggest that relevant recommendations to that effect be submitted to the 2010 NPT Review Conference.