non-paper

noun, adj — 3 senses

non-paper

noun
1

A discussion paper which is not to form part of formal business, especially in the UN.

  • The difficulty in reaching a unanimously acceptable decision is reflected in particular by a document submitted by the Japanese delegation to the same Working Group (Japanese non-paper),2001, Phil Williams, Dimitri Vlassis, Combating Transnational Crime, Routledge, →ISBN, page 262:
  • Here I was up to my armpits in bodies, and the DPKO was reduced to presenting a non-paper in order to garner possible support for a mandate debate.2005, Roméo Dallaire, Brent Beardsley, Shake hands with the devil: the failure of humanity in Rwanda, Da Capo Press, →ISBN, page 359:
1 more example
  • The Attorney General reports that the Austrian Presidency circulated an alternative, more general, text as a "non-paper" which was discussed at informal working group meetings in April and May and at the June JHA council.2006, Thirty-fourth Report of Session 2005-06: Documents Considered by the Committee on 5 July 2006, Including; Voluntary Reduction ("modulation") of Direct Farm Support Payments; Report, Together with Formal Minutes, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 53:
Antonyms
white paper

non-paper

adj
1

Not made of paper

2

Used of information that is stored electronically

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.