AG/RES. 1797 (XXXI-O/01): Proliferation of and Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons

(Resolution adopted at the third plenary session, held on June 5, 2001)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING seen the Annual Report of the Permanent Council (AG/doc.3970/01), in particular the section on the matters entrusted to the Committee on Hemispheric Security, especially the topic on the proliferation of and illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons;

RECALLING the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials;

EMPHASIZING the importance of ratification of or accession to this Convention by the member states as soon as possible;

TAKING NOTE of resolution AG/RES. 1744 (XXX-O/00), in particular operative paragraph 5; and resolution AG/RES. 1642 (XXIX-O/99), in particular operative paragraph 4.a; and of the special meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security held in January 2001 on this issue;

TAKING NOTE ALSO of the Brasilia Declaration of the Regional Preparatory Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean States for the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects;

WELCOMING the decision by the United Nations General Assembly to convene, in July 2001, the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects;

RECOGNIZING the valuable work of the United Nations and its groups of governmental experts on small arms;

REAFFIRMING the commitment by member states to respect the United Nations Security Council arms embargoes through the adoption, as may be necessary, of appropriate national norms;

WELCOMING ALSO the announcement by the Government of the United States to offer bilateral technical and financial assistance available for the destruction of surplus weapons, as well as illegal weapons seized as a result of interdicting illicit trafficking;

CONVINCED of the need to continue and to intensify multilateral cooperation as an important contribution to addressing the problems associated with the proliferation of and the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons;

TAKING NOTE with renewed interest of the work in progress for the preparation of a protocol to combat the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components, and ammunition, in the framework of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;

ACKNOWLEDGING the importance of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission’s Model Regulations for the Control of the International Movement of Firearms, Their Parts and Components, and Ammunition, adopted by the General Assembly at its twenty-eighth regular session through resolution AG/RES. 1543 (XXVIII-O/98), and expressing its satisfaction with the work on those Model Regulations and CICAD’s related training programs; and

TAKING NOTE of the Report of the Group of Government Experts responsible for conducting a study on the feasibility of restricting the manufacture and trading of small arms and light weapons to manufacturers and brokers authorized by the states, and for including in that study arms deals, especially illicit brokerage, related to small arms and light weapons, inter alia the activities of carriers, as well as financial transactions,

RESOLVES:

1. To encourage member states to apply, as appropriate, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission’s Model Regulations for the Control of the International Movement of Firearms, Their Parts and Components, and Ammunition, in the development of national legislation and regulations.

2. To instruct the Permanent Council to continue discussing, through the Committee on Hemispheric Security, with the assistance of Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), the advisability of undertaking a study concerning small arms and light weapons brokering and transit.

3. To continue to encourage member states to adopt such measures concerning arms brokering and transit as may be necessary to combat illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons.

4. To request CICAD to continue its training programs in order to contribute to the capabilities of member states to implement the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials.

5. To request CICAD to continue providing technical assistance to member states on those matters within its purview, in order to facilitate compliance with the above-mentioned Inter-American Convention and the application of the CICAD Model Regulations, as appropriate.

6. To request the Permanent Council to hold, through the Committee on Hemispheric Security, a seminar on stockpile management, destruction and identification of small arms and light weapons.

7. To encourage those states in a position to do so to destroy small arms and light weapons which they have seized as a result of interdicting illicit trafficking and destroy small arms and light weapons which they hold under their control in excess of their legitimate needs, and take all necessary measures to secure the stockpiles and weapons under their control and necessary to their defense.

8. To instruct the Permanent Council to carry out the activities mentioned in this resolution within funds allocated in the program-budget and other resources.

9. To request the Secretary General to transmit this resolution to the United Nations Secretary-General.

10. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-second regular session on the implementation of this resolution.