Language

About Us
The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seeks to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of two sets of Guidelines.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seeks to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of two sets of Guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear-related exports.

The NSG Guidelines also contain the so-called “Non-Proliferation Principle,” adopted in 1994, whereby a supplier, notwithstanding other provisions in the NSG Guidelines, authorises a transfer only when satisfied that the transfer would not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Non-Proliferation Principle seeks to cover the rare but important cases where adherence to the NPT or to a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty may not by itself be a guarantee that a State will consistently share the objectives of the Treaty or that it will remain in compliance with its Treaty obligations.

The NSG Guidelines are consistent with, and complement, the various international, legally binding instruments in the field of nuclear non-proliferation. These include the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco), the South Pacific Nuclear-Free-Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga), the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba), the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (Treaty of Bangkok), and the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Semipalatinsk).

The NSG Guidelines are implemented by each Participating Government (PG) in accordance with its national laws and practices.
Decisions on export applications are taken at the national level in accordance with national export licensing requirements.

A document entitled "The Nuclear Suppliers Group: Its Guidelines, Origins, Structure, and Role - INFCIRC/539/Rev.8" provides detailed information about the NSG and is free to download from the Documents section of this website.

NSG Video

What is the NSG?

About the NSG Logo

Working between 1536 and 1546, Michelangelo designed the Piazza del Campidoglio as a civic centre and a grand symbol of Rome.  The 1568 engraving by Étienne Dúperac was an early depiction of Michelangelo's solution to unifying the irregular shape of the Capitoline hilltop and to provide harmony to the piazza.  The new Piazza del Campidoglio included three palazzi that did not face each other squarely.  The piazza is best approached by the staircase called the Cordonata, which brings visitors skyw

ard up a long and steep slope to reach the centre of city government.  Michelangelo’s design for the piazza successfully accommodates the unevenness of the hilltop and trapezoidal arrangement of buildings and is slightly egg-shaped and not oval, narrower at the northwest end nearest the Cordonata.  The design itself is a variation of common Renaissance geometric designs featuring circles and squares.  The twelve-pointed star of inter-laced lines reminded many viewers of constellations revolving around a space called Caput mundi, Latin for "head of the world."  Accordingly, Michelangelo’s Campidoglio design was not welcomed by the Church, which might have detected a less-than-Christian context.  Little was completed before Michelangelo’s death in 1564.  The final paving was only completed in 1940.

Michelangelo’s design was used to bring harmony and order to the irregularly-shaped Capitoline hilltop.  For the NSG it symbolizes the Participating Governments’ continuing effort to bring order to a sometimes uneven export control system and non-proliferation landscape.