Key Takeaways:
- In August 2026 at the Geneva Conference on Disarmament, a U.S.-led group of 40-plus countries asked for at least 24 hours’ notice before long-range ballistic-missile tests or space launches, plus missile type, launch area, flight path, and warnings for ships and planes.
- The statement came hours before a North Korean missile test and about a month after a Chinese submarine-launched ballistic missile in the South Pacific; the group said Pacific tests had skipped usual deconfliction. Beijing notified Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea only hours ahead and rejected the 24-hour call.
- The Hague Code of Conduct already has 140 members with voluntary pre-launch notice; China, Iran, and North Korea are outside it. Reuters is cited that China has declined U.S. arms-control talks. A Pacific analyst said U.S. ICBM tests to the Marshall Islands do not overfly island states the same way.
A United States-led group of more than 40 nations called on governments to give at least 24-hour notice before testing long-range ballistic missiles or launching space rockets. The alert would reduce the risk of miscalculation and unintended response, the countries said in a joint statement issued in August 2026 at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland.
The proposal reflects a broader effort by the U.S and its Allies and Partners to strengthen strategic stability and reinforce the norms supporting collective security.
The statement came hours before North Korea tested a ballistic missile and about a month after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the South Pacific.
The statement urges governments — particularly nuclear-weapon states — to notify countries before launching intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine-launched ballistic missiles and space-launch vehicles. “Recent missile-testing activity in the Pacific area did not follow the standard practices adopted by most states to notify and deconflict [such] launches,” the statement said.
The CCP notified Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea only several hours before the July 2026 launch. In the Geneva statement, the nations called that time frame insufficient and requested additional information for such tests, including the type of missile or rocket, launch area and flight direction. They also said governments should issue clear warnings for aircraft and ships near potential impact areas. More transparent notification can reinforce responsible use of nuclear power.
The Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC) comprises 140 countries and includes the voluntary commitment to provide prelaunch notification, according to the Stars and Stripes newspaper. China, Iran and North Korea are among the nations that do not participate in the HCoC.
The CCP, which is undergoing a massive nuclear weapons buildup, has repeatedly rebuffed U.S. efforts to engage in nuclear arms control talks, the Reuters news service reported. Beijing also rejected the 24-hour notice statement.
The CCP’s July test launch differed fundamentally from how the U.S. conducts ICBM tests, analysts say.
“Similar U.S. tests in the Pacific do not cross over island states traveling from the U.S. West Coast to the Marshall Islands. These do not inhabit island space the same way the Chinese test did,” Robert Underwood, chairman of the Guam-based Pacific Center for Island Security think tank, told Newsweek magazine in August.
