STATEMENT BY MR NATHANIEL KHNG, COUNSELLOR (LEGAL), PERMANENT MISSION OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON AGENDA ITEM 90, ON STRENGTHENING AND PROMOTING THE INTERNATIONAL TREATY FRAMEWORK, SIXTH COMMITTEE, 15 OCTOBER 2020

Mr Chair, 

1. Singapore associates itself with the statement delivered on behalf of the original proponents for this agenda item, namely Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Italy and Singapore. We wish to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report in document A/75/136. My delegation has three points to make.  

2. First, we believe that a comprehensive and well-considered international treaty framework plays a critical role in supporting an effective rules-based multilateral system. A rules-based system is essential not only for the survival and success of small States such as Singapore, but it is fundamental to the creation of a more peaceful and stable global environment that benefits all States. In this regard, treaties are an indispensable tool in international relations, and their effective operation and implementation are vital to the upholding of the rule of law at the international level.  We are therefore pleased that this agenda item offers a dedicated platform at the General Assembly to discuss issues relating to the international treaty framework. 

3. This leads me to my second point which is that this agenda item provides the General Assembly with the opportunity to carefully consider the regulations giving effect to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, and to update them as necessary to ensure that they remain useful and relevant to Member States. At the 73rd session, updates were made to the regulations. This included allowing the submission of a certified copy of a treaty in electronic format to suffice for the purposes of the registration process, as well as discontinuing practices that were no longer necessary such as the publication of a monthly statement with information on treaties that were registered or filed and recorded. While the updates made are expected to bring savings of time and resources, consideration can be given as to whether and how the regulations can be further improved. In addition, this agenda item provides an opportunity for Member States to share their experience, ideas, and best practices on a wide range of treaty-related topics.   

4. Third, Singapore notes that there are a number of points raised in the Secretary-General’s report that merit further consideration. With respect to this, we feel that attention should be given to how the effective use of information technology may strengthen and streamline treaty-related processes. We look forward to hearing views on the suggestion made in the report on the development of an online registration tool to facilitate the submission of treaties for registration, and on encouraging efforts to further develop, enhance and modernise the United Nations electronic treaty database. We also look forward to hearing views on the possibility of broadening the limited publication policy and modernising the format of publication of the Treaty Series, as measures to alleviate the backlog in its publication. 

5. Thank you for your attention.

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