General Information
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004)
On 28 April 2004, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1540 (2004) under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter which affirms that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The resolution obliges States, inter alia, to refrain from supporting by any means non-State actors from developing, acquiring, manufacturing, possessing, transporting, transferring or using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.
Resolution 1540 (2004) imposes binding obligations on all States to adopt legislation to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and their means of delivery, and establish appropriate domestic controls over related materials to prevent their illicit trafficking. It also encourages enhanced international cooperation in this regard. The resolution affirms support for the multilateral treaties whose aim is to eliminate or prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the importance for all States to implement them fully; it reiterates that none of the obligations in resolution 1540 (2004) shall conflict with or alter the rights and obligations of States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Chemical Weapons Convention, or the Biological Weapons Convention or alter the responsibilities of the IAEA and OPCW.
MANDATE OF THE 1540 COMMITTEE
The Committee’s mandate in supporting and monitoring national implementation, assistance, cooperation with international, regional and sub-regional organisations, as well as transparency and outreach are reflected in various provisions under resolution 1540 (2004) and follow-up resolutions.
Under operative paragraph 4, the Security Council decides “to establish, in accordance with rule 28 of its provisional rules of procedure, for a period of no longer than two years, a Committee of the Security Council, consisting of all members of the Council, which will, calling as appropriate on other expertise, report to the Security Council for its examination, on the implementation of this resolution”.
On 27 April 2006, the Security Council extended the mandate of the 1540 Committee for a further two years with the adoption of resolution 1673.
On 25 April 2008, the Security Council adopted resolution 1810, which extended the mandate of the 1540 Committee for a further period of three years, with the assistance of a Group of Experts, until 25 April 2011.
On 20 April 2011, the Security Council adopted resolution 1977, which extended the mandate of the 1540 Committee for a period of ten years to 2021. Resolution 1977 (2011) also provides for two further comprehensive reviews, one after five years and one prior to the renewal of the Committee’s mandate. Additionally, the 1540 Committee is mandated by resolution 1977 (2011) to continue to strengthen its role to facilitate the provision of technical assistance and to enhance cooperation with relevant international organisations. The Committee is also mandated to continue to refine its outreach efforts, and to continue to institute transparency measures. On 29 June 2012, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2055 (2012), which enlarged the number of members of the Group of Experts supporting the work of the 1540 Committee from eight to up to nine.
Following the submission of the report of the 2016 comprehensive review to the Security Council, resolution 2325 was adopted unanimously on 15 December 2016, reaffirming the obligations in resolution 1540 (2004).
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Security Council adopted resolution 2572 (2021) on 22 April 2021 to extend the mandate of the 1540 Committee until 28 February 2022 to conduct and complete the comprehensive review on the status of implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) and submit to the Security Council a report on the conclusion of the review. On 25 February 2022 through the adoption of the resolution 2622 (2022), the Security Council decided to further extend the mandate of the 1540 Committee until 30 November 2022.
Following the conclusion of the 2022 comprehensive review, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2663 on 30 November 2022, extending the mandate of the 1540 Committee for a period of 10 years. It also decides that the 1540 Committee will conduct comprehensive reviews on the status of implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), including through the holding of open consultations of the Committee in New York, both after five years and prior to the renewal of its mandate, including through, if necessary, recommendations on adjustments to the mandate, and will submit to the Security Council a report upon the conclusion of each of those reviews, and decides that, accordingly, the first review should be held before December 2027. The resolution also decides to continue to provide the 1540 Committee with the assistance of its Group of Experts.