Overview
Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) to make recommendations on possible aspects that could contribute to but not negotiate a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices
By operative paragraph 2 of resolution 67/53 (A/RES/67/53), the General Assembly of the United Nations requested the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, including possible aspects thereof, and to submit a report on the subject to the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session.
In pursuance of that resolution, on 31 January 2013, the Office for Disarmament Affairs sent a note verbale to all Member States which requested their views. The note verbale specified that each submission be accompanied by an executive summary, which was included in the report of the Secretary-General. The summary allowed compliance with the page-limit requirement for UN documents and facilitated the timely process of relevant documentation in all UN official languages. The submissions in extenso were posted on the website of the Office for Disarmament Affairs, if so requested and agreed by the Governments or the Permanent Missions.
By para 3 of the same resolution, the General Assembly also requested the Secretary-General to establish a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) with a membership of twenty-five States chosen on the basis of equitable geographical representation, which, took into account the report containing the views of Member States. It made recommendations on possible aspects that could contribute to but not negotiate a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices on the basis of document CD/1299 and the mandate contained therein, which would operate on the basis of consensus, without prejudice to national positions in future negotiations and met in Geneva for two sessions of two weeks in 2014 and in 2015. The General Assembly also called upon the Secretary-General to transmit the report of the group of governmental experts to the General Assembly at its seventieth session and to the Conference on Disarmament. [...]
After careful consideration of the appropriate composition of the Group of Governmental Experts, in October 2013 the Secretary-General invited the Governments of the following countries to nominate an expert to participate in the work of the Group: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, South Africa, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States.
The General Assembly also decided that should the Conference on Disarmament agree upon and implement a balanced and comprehensive programme of work that includes negotiation of a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, the group of governmental experts would conclude and its work would be submitted to the Secretary-General for onward transmission to the Conference on Disarmament.
At its last session, in March 2015, the Group of Governmental Experts agreed to the text of its final report (A/70/81). In accordance with paragraph 4 of General Assembly resolution 67/53, on 22 June 2015, the Secretary-General of the United Nations transmitted the report of the Group to the Conference on Disarmament (CD/2023).
By operative paragraph 3 of its resolution 70/39 (A/RES/70/39) the General Assembly of the United Nations requested the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on the report of the Group of Governmental Experts (A/70/81) and to submit a report on the subject to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session.
In pursuance of that resolution, on 25 February 2016, the Office for Disarmament Affairs sent a note verbale to all Member States that requested their views. The note verbale requested that the submissions should be sent in electronic format (word format only) to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs - Geneva Branch at unoda-geneva@unog.ch. The note verbale also specified that each submission be accompanied by an executive summary no longer than 400 words, which would be included in the report of the Secretary-General. The submission in extenso were be posted on the website of the Office for Disarmament Affairs, unless an objection was communicated by the Governments or the Permanent Missions.
Last update 13 April 2017
