International Atomic Energy Agency GENERAL CONFERENCE	GC(47)/1 20 June 2003 GENERAL Distr. Original: ENGLISH
Forty-seventh regular session

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1. In accordance with Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference^1/, the Director General hereby notifies all Members of the Agency that the forty-seventh regular session of the General Conference will open at the Austria Center Vienna^2/ on Monday, 15 September 2003 at 10.00 a.m.
   
   
2. During the weekend preceding the opening of the Conference's session (Saturday, 13 September and Sunday, 14 September 2003), facilities will be made available for group meetings. Member States are strongly urged to avail themselves of those facilities with a view to achieving early agreement on organizational matters and thereby contributing to the smooth running of the session, ensuring - where necessary - that their representatives arrive in Vienna in time to participate in pre-session group meetings and the associated group decision-making. Meeting rooms may be reserved through the Secretariat's Conference Service Section (tel. no.: +43 1 2600/21320)..

3. Pursuant to Rule 11 of the Conference's Rules of Procedure, the Director General has drawn up the attached provisional agenda for the session in consultation with the Board of Governors. In the annotation to each item a suggestion is made, for consideration by the General Committee, as to where it should first be discussed - in plenary or in a committee.

4. Should the Director General receive by 16 August 2003 any request under Rule 13 for inclusion of a supplementary item in the agenda, such an item will, unless Rule 21 applies, be placed on a list which will be circulated not later than 26 August 2003.

1. Election of officers and appointment of the General Committee
2. Applications for membership of the Agency (if any)
3. Message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations
4. Statement by the Director General
5. Arrangements for the Conference
   1. Adoption of the agenda and allocation of items for initial discussion
   2. Closing date of the session and opening date of the next session
6. Contributions to the Technical Co-operation Fund for 2004
7. General debate and Annual Report for 2002
8. Election of Members to the Board of Governors
9. The Agency's Accounts for 2002
10. The Agency's Programme and Budget for 2004-2005
11. Appointment of the External Auditor
12. Scale of assessment of Members' contributions towards the Regular Budget
13. Restoration of voting rights
14. Measures to strengthen international co-operation in nuclear, radiation and transport safety and waste management
15. Nuclear security – measures to protect against nuclear terrorism
16. Strengthening of the Agency's technical co-operation activities
17. Strengthening the Agency’s activities related to nuclear science, technology and applications
18. Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system and application of the Model Additional Protocol
19. Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement between the Agency and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
20. Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq
21. Application of IAEA safeguards in the Middle East
22. Israeli nuclear capabilities and threat
23. Personnel
    1. Staffing of the Agency’s Secretariat
    2. Women in the Secretariat
24. Examination of delegates' credentials
25. Report on contributions pledged to the Technical Co-operation Fund for 2004

1. Election of officers and appointment of the General Committee^3/ (Plenary)

   Under Rule 34 of the Rules of Procedure, the General Conference will be called upon to elect a President. In accordance with Rules 34 and 40, the Conference will also be called upon to elect eight Vice-Presidents, a Chairman of the Committee of the Whole and five additional members on the proposal of the President.

2. Applications for membership of the Agency (if any) (Plenary)

   The General Conference may have before it recommendations by the Board of Governors regarding applications for membership of the Agency.

3. Message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations (Plenary)

   It is expected that a message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations will be delivered.

4. Statement by the Director General (Plenary)

   The Director General is expected to make a statement to the Conference.

5. Arrangements for the Conference
   1. Adoption of the agenda and allocation of items for initial discussion (General Committee)

      The General Committee is required to report to the Conference under Rule 42(a) on the provisional agenda set forth in the present document and on any supplementary or additional items (Rules 13 and 15). The Conference will then approve the agenda (Rule 14) and allocate the items for initial discussion.

   2. Closing date of the session and opening date of the next session (General Committee)

      The Conference is required, under Rule 8, to set the closing date of the session and, under Rule 1, to set the opening date of the forty-eighth (2004) regular session after considering recommendations made by the General Committee.

6. Contributions to the Technical Co-operation Fund for 2004 (Plenary)

   Member States will be urged to pledge contributions to the Technical Co-operation Fund for 2004 and attention will be drawn to the fact that such pledges of contributions can be made during the session.

7. General debate and Annual Report for 2002 (Plenary)

   Under Article V.E.4 of the Statute, the Conference is required to consider the Agency's Annual Report for the year 2002, which the Board has approved (GC(47)/2).

   As part of the efforts to streamline the work of the General Conference, it is recommended that statements by delegates in the general debate be limited to 15 minutes.

8. Election of Members to the Board of Governors (Plenary)

   The Conference will be called upon to elect 11 Members to the Board^4/. Under Rule 83, the President will indicate to the Conference those elective places on the Board which must be filled so as to ensure that after the end of the session the Board will be constituted in accordance with Article VI.A. of the Statute. Designations made in accordance with Article VI.A.1 of the Statute for membership on the Board in 2003-2004 are set out in document GC(47)/5.

9. The Agency's accounts for 2002 (Committee of the Whole)

   In accordance with Rule 12(i), the Agency's Accounts for 2002, together with the External Auditor's report thereon and the report of the Board, are being communicated to the Conference in document GC(47)/4.

10. The Agency's Programme and Budget for 2004-2005 (Committee of the Whole)

    Under Article V.E.5 of the Statute, the Conference is called upon to approve the Agency's budget for 2004 which the Board, pursuant to Article XIV.A, is submitting to it in document GC(47)/3.

11. Appointment of the External Auditor (Plenary)

    The tenure of the Agency’s External Auditor will end with the completion of the audit of the Agency’s accounts for the financial year 2003^5/. It will therefore be necessary for the Conference to appoint an External Auditor to audit the Agency’s accounts for 2004 and 2005. For this purpose, it is expected that the General Conference will have before it a recommendation by the Board.

12. Scale of Assessment of Members' Contributions Towards the Regular Budget (Committee of the Whole)

    Pursuant to Article XIV.D of the Statute, a proposed scale of assessment of Members' contributions towards the Regular Budget for 2004 will be submitted to the Conference.

13. Restoration of voting rights (Committee of the Whole)

    By decision GC(46)/DEC/8 the General Conference in 2002 requested the Board of Governors to consider the criteria, guidelines and measures being applied in connection with requests for the restoration of voting rights, in particular the requirements for payment plans, at its meeting in June 2003.

14. Measures to strengthen international co-operation in nuclear, radiation and transport safety and waste management (Committee of the Whole)

    This item is included in the provisional agenda pursuant to resolution GC(46)/RES/9. It is expected that the General Conference will have before it reports on the following issues:

    • the safety standards programme;
    • the safety of research reactors;
    • occupational radiation protection;
    • the decommissioning of nuclear facilities;
    • the safety of radioactive waste management;
    • the safety and security of radioactive sources;
    • the safety of transport of radioactive material;
    • the radiological protection of patients;
    • radiological criteria relating to long-lived radioisotopes in commodities;
    • education and training in nuclear, radiation and transport safety and waste management; and
    • the Nuclear Safety Review for the year 2002 (GC(47)/INF/3).

15. Nuclear security – measures to protect against nuclear terrorism (Committee of the Whole)

    This item is included in the provisional agenda pursuant to resolutions GC(45)/RES/14 and GC(46)/RES/13. It is expected that the General Conference will have before it a report on issues related to nuclear security.

16. Strengthening of the Agency's technical co-operation activities (Committee of the Whole)

    This item is included in the provisional agenda to enable the Director General to report on the implementation of resolution GC(46)/RES/10 as requested in its operative paragraph 13.

17. Strengthening the Agency’s activities related to nuclear science, technology and applications (Committee of the Whole)

    This item is included in the provisional agenda pursuant to resolutions GC(45)/RES/12 and GC(46)/RES/11. It is expected that the General Conference will have before it reports relating to:

    • the Nuclear Technology Review – Update 2003;
    • Plan for producing potable water economically using small and medium-sized nuclear reactors;
    • Use of isotope hydrology for water resources management;
    • Servicing immediate human needs;
    • Agency activities in the development of innovative nuclear technology;
    • Support to the African Union’s Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomosis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC); and
    • Maintenance and preservation of nuclear knowledge.

18. Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system and application of the Model Additional Protocol (Committee of the Whole)

    This item is included in the provisional agenda pursuant to resolution GC(46)/RES/12 to enable the Director General to report on the implementation of the resolution as requested in its operative paragraph 16.

19. Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement between the Agency and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Plenary)

    This item is included in the provisional agenda pursuant to operative paragraph 8 of resolution GC(46)/RES/14, in which the General Conference decided last year to remain seized of this matter and to include this item in the agenda for its forty-seventh regular session.

20. Implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq (Plenary)

    This item is included in the provisional agenda pursuant to resolution GC(46)/RES/15 adopted by the General Conference last year. As requested in operative paragraph 8 of the resolution, the Director General will report to the Conference on his efforts to implement relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq.

21. Application of IAEA safeguards in the Middle East (Plenary)

    This item is included in the provisional agenda pursuant to resolution GC(46)/RES/16 adopted by the General Conference last year. The Director General will report to the Conference on the implementation of the resolution as requested in its operative paragraph 9.

22. Israeli nuclear capabilities and threat (Plenary)

    This item has been included in the provisional agenda at the request of Arab States members of the Agency, as forwarded by the Sultanate of Oman. An explanatory memorandum, required under Rule 20 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference will be before the Conference.

23. Personnel (Committee of the Whole)
    • Staffing of the Agency’s Secretariat
      
      This sub-item is included in the provisional agenda to enable the Director General to report on the implementation of resolution GC(45)/RES/15.A. as requested in operative paragraph 3.
    • Women in the Secretariat
      
      This sub-item is included in the provisional agenda to enable the Director General to report on the implementation of resolution GC(45)/RES/15.B. as requested in operative paragraph 5.

24. Examination of delegates' credentials (General Committee)

    Under Rule 28 of the Rules of Procedure the General Committee, meeting as a credentials committee, will examine the credentials of all delegates and report thereon to the Conference.

25. Report on contributions pledged to the Technical Co-operation Fund for 2004 (Plenary)

    It is expected that pledges of contributions to the Technical Co-operation Fund for 2004 will be obtained during the Conference and that the President will communicate a report thereon to the Conference.

^2/ The Austria Center Vienna is located at Am Hubertusdamm 6, 1220 Vienna, next to the Vienna International Centre.

^3/ As stated in paragraph 2 of the cover note, facilities are being made available for area groups to meet during the weekend preceding the opening of the Conference's session. It is hoped that this measure will help area groups to reach agreement on their nominees for membership of the General Committee before Monday morning so that the work of the Conference can proceed without delay.

^4/ The terms of office of Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait, Morocco, Philippines, Romania, Spain and Turkey will expire at the end of this year's regular session (see document GC(45)/RES/DEC(2001), decision number GC(45)/DEC/9).

^5/ See GC decision GC(45)/DEC/10.