STATES PARTIES TO CCW HOLD THIRD REVIEW CONFERENCE

The Third Review Conference of States Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) will be held from 7 to 17 November 2006 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Pursuant to the decision of the 2005 Meeting of the States Parties, all necessary preparations for the Third Review Conference were undertaken within the framework of the existing Group of Governmental Experts, established by the Second Review Conference in 2001. The Group held three sessions during 2006, from 6 to 10 March, 19 to 23 June, and 28 August to 6 September.

The Third Review Conference will be chaired by Ambassador François Rivasseau of France who was nominated as President-designate of the Conference at the 2005 Meeting of the States Parties. Ambassador Rivasseau presided over all the three sessions of the Group of Governmental Experts and the States Parties are expected to confirm his nomination at the opening of the Review Conference.

The Conference will review the scope and operation of the Convention and its annexed Protocols and will consider any proposals related to the Convention or to its Protocols, or any other proposal for additional Protocols to the Convention. It is expected, in particular, to consider and take action on five substantive items, submitted to it by the Group of Governmental Experts as basic proposals for consideration. These are explosive remnants of war, mines other than anti-personnel mines, the possibility to establish a sponsorship programme under the Convention, options to promote compliance with the Convention and its protocols, as well as efforts to promote universality of the Convention and its annexed protocols. Other proposals for discussion and consideration by the Conference were also submitted by some States parties and address such issues, as cluster munitions and laser systems.

In preparing for the Review Conference, the Group has managed to agree on a number of procedural matters and substantive issues, which are recommended for adoption by the Third Review Conference, i.e. (1) the Provisional Agenda of the Third Review Conference; (2) the Provisional Programme of Work for the Third Review Conference; (3) the Draft Rules of Procedure; (4) the Provisional Agendas of the Main Committees; (5) the Provisional Programmes of Work of the two Main Committees; (6) a Draft Plan of Action to Promote Universality of the CCW; (7) a Draft Decision on the establishment of a Sponsorship Programme; (8) a Draft Final Document of the Third Review Conference; (9) a Draft Declaration on the Occasion of the Entry into Force of CCW Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War; and (10) the appointment of the Provisional Secretary-General of the Third Review Conference. Progress reports on the outcome of the activities of the Group on the issues of explosive remnants of war, mines other than anti-personnel mines and compliance are also reflected in the Procedural Report of the Group’s Fifteenth session.

In accordance with its Rules of Procedure, the Third Review Conference will establish a General Committee (Bureau), two Main Committees to address all substantive items, a Drafting Committee and a Credentials Committee. The conference will elect 10 Vice-Presidents, as well as Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons for each Committee.

During the course of the preparation for the Review Conference the President-designate was assisted by two Coordinators, who will also chair the meetings of the two Main Committees of the Conference – Ambassador Edvardas Borisovas of Lithuania on Explosive Remnants of War and Ambassador Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos of Brazil on Mines Other Than Anti-Personnel Mines. The Friend of the President, Ambassador Gordan Markotić of Croatia, assisted the President-designate on matters pertaining to options to promote compliance with the Convention and its annexed Protocols and will preside over the work of the Credentials Committee. Ambassador Jayant Prasad of India is nominated to chair the proceedings of the Drafting Committee of the Conference.

An important event of the Third Review Conference will be the celebration of the entry into force of Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), the most recent of the Protocols annexed to the Convention. The Protocol, which provides for post-conflict remedial measures of a generic nature in order to minimize the risks and effects of ERW, as well as generic preventive measures for improving reliability of munitions and minimizing the occurrence of ERW, is intended to eradicate the threat that unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance pose to the civilian population in need for development. Protocol V on ERW was negotiated by the CCW Group of Governmental Experts and adopted by the States Parties on 28 November 2003. It will enter into force on 12 November 2006. A special plenary meeting has been set aside to commemorate the event on Monday, 13 November. Twenty-five States have so far notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations, as depositary of the Convention, of their consent to be bound by the Protocol: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Holy See, India, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

The Third Review Conference will be preceded by the Eighth Annual Conference of the States Parties to Amended Protocol II to the CCW, which will meet on 6 November 2006.

The Convention was opened for signature at New York on 10 April 1981 and entered into force on 2 December 1983. It currently has 100 States Parties. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the depositary of the Convention. For more information pertaining to the preparation of the CCW Third Review Conference, please consult the new official website of the CCW as part of the website of the United Nations Organization at Geneva (UNOG) at the following address: http://www.unog.ch/disarmament/ .