"[1] Each year since 1996, the UN General Assembly has passed a resolution calling on all countries immediately to fulfill their disarmament obligation, as articulated by the International Court of Justice, "by commencing multilateral negotiations leading to an early conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention."
[4] On 24 October 2008 the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon discussed a nuclear weapons convention in an address to the East-West Institute entitled "The United Nations and security in a nuclear-weapon-free world."
In his five-point program he proposed two alternatives for nuclear disarmament negotiations, either "a framework of separate, mutually reinforcing instruments," or "a nuclear-weapons convention, backed by a strong system of verification," citing the Costa Rican proposal as a good point of departure on the second option.
As well as outlawing nuclear weapons, this convention would prohibit the production of fissile materials suitable for making them, namely highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium.
This body would receive progress reports from nuclear-armed states, conduct inspections of weapons facilities, acquire intelligence through satellite photography and remote sensors, and monitor the production and transfer of materials suitable for making nuclear weapons.