The Sixth Conference of States Parties is scheduled to take place from 17-21 August 2020. In light of the uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak and the ability to hold large meetings, States Parties have decided, via silence procedure, to conduct CSP6 through written procedure. The announcement of the CSP6 President-designate regrding this decision is available here.
This means there will not be an in-person meeting in Geneva, as originally planned. Instead, stakeholders will participate in the Conference through written interventions, and decisions of the Conference will be taken by States Parties via silence procedure. Details of how to participate in the Conference and how decisions will be made, are included below.
Registration for and participation in CSP6
On or by 15 July 2020, the ATT Secretariat will circulate an invitation to States and other stakeholders to register for CSP6 by 07 August 2020 by submitting a note verbale or formal letter confirming the participation of their State or organisation in CSP6. The ATT Secretariat will acknowledge all States Parties, Signatory States, Observer States, international organisations, regional organisations, civil society representatives, NGOs and industry representatives States and other stakeholders that register for CSP6, and will include them in the List of Participants of the Conference, to be posted on the ATT website. Every State that registers for CSP6 will be considered to have participated in the Conference and to have been ‘in attendance’ for the purposes of Rule 5 of the ATT Financial Rules.
CSP6 Documentation
The ATT Secretariat will also circulate all CSP6 documents to States Parties and other Conference participants on 17 July 2020 for their consideration.
Adopting decisions of CSP6
On 29 July 2020, the ATT Secretariat will circulate the draft decisions to be considered for adoption by CSP6 to all States Parties. Each draft decision will be presented separately to States Parties for consideration and adoption via silence procedure based on Rule 41(3) of the ATT Rules of Procedure, with a deadline set at 20 days, starting on 29 July 2020 and expiring on 17 August 2020.
Submitting statements to CSP6
States Parties and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to submit any written statements to the Conference, including general statements (usually delivered during the CSP agenda item titled ‘General Debate’). States Parties and other stakeholders are hereby invited to submit any such written statements to the ATT Secretariat at info@thearmstradetreaty.org by 14 August 2020. The ATT Secretariat will make all statements publicly available on the CSP6 webpage.
Final Report of CSP6
There will be a Final Report of CSP6 in a format adapted to the special situation, which will record the names of the States and other stakeholders that participated in the Conference, the reports and documents submitted to the Conference, and the decisions adopted by CSP6 via silence procedure. The Final Report will be circulated by the ATT Secretariat on 21 August 2020 and posted on the ATT website.
Timeline
In summary, the timeline of steps towards the proposed holding of CSP6 through written procedure are as follows:
15 July ATT Secretariat circulates invitation to register for CSP6
17 July Final CSP6 documents circulated to States Parties and other Conference participants for consideration
29 July ATT Secretariat circulates the draft decisions to States Parties to be considered for possible adoption by CSP6 via silence procedure
07 August Deadline (17h00 (CEST)) for States Parties and Conference participants to register for CSP6
14 August Deadline (17h00 (CEST)) for States Parties and Conference participants to submit written statements
to the ATT Secretariat
29 July – 17 August Silence procedure for States Parties to consider and adopt draft decisions of CSP6
21 August Final report of CSP6 circulated to all stakeholders
