RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR TEST-BAN TREATY ORGANIZATION

Adopted by the States Signatories, November 19, 1996

The States Signatories of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, adopted by the General Assembly at New York on 10 September 1996,

Having decided to take all necessary measures to ensure the rapid and effective establishment of the future Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization,

Having decided to this end to establish a Preparatory Commission,

1. Approve the Text on the Establishment of a Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization, as annexed to the present resolution;

2. Request the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 50/245, of 10 September 1996, on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, to provide the services required to initiate the work of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization, including the Meeting of States Signatories and the First Session of the Preparatory Commission.

ANNEX

Text on the Establishment of a Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization

1. There is hereby established the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (hereinafter referred to as "the Commission") for the purpose of carrying out the necessary preparations for the effective implementation of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, and for preparing for the first session of the Conference of the States Parties to that Treaty.

2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall convene the Commission for its first session as soon as possible, but not later than 60 days after the Treaty has been signed by 50 States.

3. The seat of the Commission shall be at the seat of the future Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

4. The Commission shall be composed of all States which sign the Treaty. Each State Signatory shall have one representative in the Commission, who may be accompanied by alternates and advisers.

5. (a) The costs of the Commission and its activities, including those of the provisional Technical Secretariat, shall be met annually by all States Signatories, in accordance with the United Nations scale of assessment adjusted to take into account differences between the United Nations membership and States Signatories and timing of signature. The Commission and the provisional Technical Secretariat may also benefit from voluntary contributions;

(b) A State Signatory which has not discharged in full its financial obligations to the Commission within 365 days of receipt of the request for payment shall have no vote in the Commission, until such payment is received. The Commission may, nevertheless, permit such a member to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the member;

(c) The Commission shall, between the time the Treaty is opened for signature and the conclusion of the initial session of the Conference of the States Parties, use funds provided by the States Signatories to meet the necessary costs arising from its functions and purposes, including the capital investments and operating and maintenance costs to establish and, pending their formal commissioning, to operate provisionally as necessary the International Data Centre and the International Monitoring System networks provided for in the Treaty. The funding by the Commission shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, adjusted to take into account the organizational differences between the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization and the Commission. The Preparatory Commission shall develop the funding procedures in cases not covered by the Treaty.

6. All decisions of the Commission should be taken by consensus. If, notwithstanding the efforts of representatives to achieve consensus, an issue comes up for voting, the Chairman of the Commission shall defer the vote for 24 hours and during this period of deferment shall make every effort to facilitate achievement of consensus, and shall report to the Commission before the end of the period. If consensus is not possible at the end of 24 hours, the Commission shall take decisions on questions of procedure by a simple majority of the members present and voting. Decisions on matters of substance shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting. When the issue arises as to whether the question is one of substance or not, that question shall be treated as a matter of substance unless otherwise decided by the commission by the majority required for decisions on matters of substance.

7. The Commission shall have standing as an international organization, authority to negotiate and enter into agreements, and such other legal capacity as necessary for the exercise of its functions and the fulfilment of its purposes.

8. The Commission shall:

9. The Commission shall make arrangements for the initial session of the Conference of the States Parties, including the preparation of a draft agenda and draft rules of procedure.

10. The Commission shall undertake, inter alia, the following tasks concerning the organization and work of the Technical Secretariat and requiring immediate attention after the entry into force of the Treaty:

11. The Commission shall undertake, inter alia, the following tasks on matters of the Organization requiring immediate attention after the entry into force of the Treaty:

12. The Commission shall develop, inter alia, the following draft agreements, arrangements and guidelines for approval by the Conference of the States Parties in accordance with the Treaty and Protocol:

13. The Commission shall undertake all necessary preparations to ensure the operationalization of the Treaty's verification regime at entry into force, pursuant to Article IV, paragraph 1, and shall develop appropriate procedures for its operation, presenting a report on the operational readiness of the regime, together with any relevant recommendations, to the initial session of the Conference of the States Parties.

14. The Commission shall supervise and coordinate, in fulfilling the requirements of the Treaty and its Protocol, the development, preparation, technical testing and, pending their formal commissioning, provisional operation as necessary of the International Data Centre and the International Monitoring System, together with assuring appropriate support of the System by certified laboratory facilities and by respective means of communication. Inter alia, the Commission shall:

15. The Commission shall make all necessary preparations, in fulfilling the requirements of the Treaty and its Protocol, for the support of on-site inspections from the entry into force of the Treaty. It shall, inter alia:

16. The Commission shall develop guidelines and reporting formats for the implementation of confidence-building measures.

17. An indicative list of verification tasks to be carried out by the Preparatory Commission, as specified in paragraphs 12 to 16, is attached as the appendix to the present text.

18. The Commission shall:

19. The Commission shall prepare a final report on all matters within its mandate for the first session of the Conference of the States Parties.

20. Rights and assets, financial and other obligations and functions of the Commission shall be transferred to the Organization at the first session of the Conference of the States Parties. The Commission shall make recommendations to the Conference of the States Parties on this matter, including on effecting a smooth transition.

21. The Commission shall remain in existence until the conclusion of the first session of the Conference of the States Parties.

22. The Commission as an international organization, its staff, as well as the delegates of the States Signatories shall be accorded by the Host Country such legal status, privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent exercise of their functions in connection with the Commission and the fulfilment of its object and purpose.

APPENDIX

Indicative List of Verification Tasks of the Preparatory Commission

The following indicative list is illustrative of the verification-related tasks the Preparatory Commission might need to undertake in implementing the relevant provisions of the Treaty and of the resolution establishing the Commission.

Preparatory Commission Text paragraph 12: Draft agreements, arrangements and guidelines

In addition to those items mentioned in the illustrative and explicitly non-exhaustive listing contained in paragraph 12, the following tasks might also be necessary:

For those items already specifically listed under paragraph 12, it is envisaged that verification agreements or arrangements (either generic model agreements or arrangements, or the draft agreements or arrangements negotiated with States in accordance with these models) would include, pursuant to Part I, Section A of the Protocol to the Treaty:

Preparatory Commission Text paragraph 13: Preparatory Commission verification regime responsibilities

The report referred to in this paragraph reflects a negotiating understanding that the task of compiling such a report -- implicit in Article II, paragraph 26 (h) of the Treaty -- would be explicitly mentioned in the resolution establishing the Preparatory Commission. The report and associated recommendations from the Commission will be essential prerequisites for the initial Conference of States Parties to take the steps necessary to formalize the establishment of the IMS and other elements of the Treaty's verification regime. The Preparatory Commission would as a consequence need, inter alia, to:

Preparatory Commission Text paragraph 14: Preparatory Commission IMS preparation responsibilities

This chapeau includes, inter alia, references to the responsibility of the Preparatory Commission for families of tasks related to:

Preparatory Commission Text paragraph 14 (b): development of Operational Manuals

Drafts of all Operational Manuals, approved by the Preparatory Commission, are required to be adopted by the initial Conference of the States Parties (Article II, paragraph 26 (h) of the Treaty). The compilation of the Operational Manual for each monitoring technology will require the Preparatory Commission to develop, spell out and approve all necessary technical and operational detail required to ensure the effective operation of the International Monitoring System, inter alia;

Preparatory Commission Text paragraph 14 (b) (ii): Operational Manual for Radionuclide Monitoring

In addition to the generic points listed above, the Operational Manual for Radionuclide Monitoring will require the Preparatory Commission to develop:

Preparatory Commission Text paragraph 14 (b) (iii): Operational Manual for Hydroacoustic Monitoring

In addition to generic points listed above, in order to prepare the Operational Manual for Hydroacoustic Monitoring, the Preparatory Commission will need to:

Preparatory Commission Text paragraph 14 (b) (v): Operational Manual for the International Data Centre

In developing the Operational Manual for the International Data Centre and producing its content, the Preparatory Commission will need to:

Preparatory Commission Text paragraph 15: On-Site Inspection

The Treaty and Protocol text are separately explicit that the Operational Manual for OSI and the list of approved inspection equipment must be approved by the Conference of States Parties at its initial session (Part II, paragraph 13 of the Protocol to the Treaty, Article II, paragraph 26 (h) of the Treaty and Part II, paragraph 36 of the Protocol to the Treaty).

In order to compile the Operational Manual for OSI, the Preparatory Commission will in all likelihood need to develop or consider, inter alia: