The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning may cease to exist if the May 22nd deadline for the achievement of total disarmament set out in the Belfast Agreement passes without progress.
A spokesman for the commission said the body would closely follow the current round of talks. "The two governments have given no specific date for an end to the commission's mandate but the May date is set out in the agreement and obviously that will be looked at," said a commission spokesman.
He said the body intended to remain in contact with the political parties, with the paramilitary groups still in discussions with it, "and we will attempt to re-establish contact with others".
Figures indicate the commission, headed by Gen John de Chastelain, cost the two governments £2,528,047 over a two-year period from September 1997. The body, which has a staff of 10, has issued five reports on progress in achieving paramilitary decommissioning.
A spokesman for the NIO said the Amnesty Order Bill, which allows armaments to be transported for destruction under the supervision of the commission, was extended this week in Westminster until May 22nd.
In addition to the reports, the IICD has drafted schemes for decommissioning and last November published an assessment for the review of the implementation of the agreement chaired by Senator George Mitchell.
The British and Irish governments established the commission in August 1997. The Belfast Agreement reaffirmed the commission's mandate and called for decommissioning to be completed by May 22nd of this year.
Staff in the Belfast and Dublin offices of the commission are Canadian, American and Finnish in nationality, in line with the nationality of the three decommissioning commissioners, Gen de Chastelain, Mr Andrew Sens and Brigadier Tauno Nieminen.
"We carry out our remit and would be happy to see progress but we are visitors here and don't have that sense of personal frustration. But these are major issues for the people of Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland and we wish them well," added the commission spokesman.