AG/RES. 2297 (XXXVII-O/07) Addressing Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons: Stockpile Management and Security

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (AG/doc.4698/07 corr. 1), in particular the sections on matters assigned to the Committee on Hemispheric Security;

RECALLING resolutions AG/RES. 1642 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1744 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1796 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1797 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1888 (XXXII-O/02), AG/RES. 1968 (XXXIII-O/03), AG/RES. 1997 (XXXIV-O/04), AG/RES. 2108 (XXXV-O/05), AG/RES. 2145 (XXXV-O/05), and AG/RES. 2246 (XXXVI-O/06), the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), and the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects;

REAFFIRMING the commitment of member states, in the Declaration on Security in the Americas, to "combat the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials by, among other actions, destroying excess stocks of firearms designated by each State, securing and managing national stockpiles, and regulating firearms brokering, including sanctions for illicit arms brokering for the purpose of avoiding their diversion through illicit channels and their proliferation";

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT:

The March 8, 2007, special meeting of the Committee on Hemispheric Security devoted to effective strategies to mitigate the threat posed by the use of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) by non-state actors; and

Article 8 of the CIFTA and the obligation of states parties, who, "in an effort to eliminate loss or diversion, undertake to adopt the necessary measures to ensure the security of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials imported into, exported from, or in transit through their respective territories"; and

RECOGNIZING:

The importance of the work undertaken by the General Secretariat, through the Department for the Prevention of Threats against Public Security, to assist member states in stockpile management and destruction of small arms and light weapons;

The contributions by permanent observers, the international community, and subregional and regional organizations to assist member states with greatest need in addressing the serious threat posed by the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons in the Hemisphere; and

The successful efforts of the Government of Chile, the OAS General Secretariat, the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences-Chile (FLACSO-Chile), and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-LiREC) to organize the Stockpile Management and Destruction Seminar, on management of weapons in custody and destruction of stockpiles, in Santiago, Chile, on November 9 and 10, 2006,

RESOLVES:

1. To urge member states to continue implementing the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (United Nations Programme of Action).

2. To encourage member states to advance their commitment to the application of the United Nations Programme of Action and the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA) by strengthening measures for stockpile management and the security of arms in their national inventories.

3. To urge member states to apply the OAS Recommended Guidelines for Control and Security of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), in accordance with resolution AG/RES. 2145 (XXXV-O/05).

4. To invite member states, permanent observers, and subregional and regional organizations to consider contributing to the OAS fund established for arms collection and destruction efforts, as well as related training programs, in order to channel financial and technical resources to member states in need of assistance.

5. To encourage member states to adopt the confidence- and security-building measures proposed in the Consensus of Miami: Declaration by the Experts on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures: Recommendations to the Summit-Mandated Special Conference on Security, in which member states are called upon "to identify excess stocks of small arms and light weapons as well as seized small arms and light weapons and, in accordance with national laws and international agreements in which they participate, to define programs for the destruction of said weapons and to invite international representatives to observe their destruction."

6. To encourage states parties to apply the CIFTA and to implement the Declaration of Bogotá on the Functioning and Application of the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), adopted at the First Conference of the States Party to the Convention.

7. To urge member states that have decided to destroy their excess small arms and light weapons and their ammunition to take full advantage of the technical assistance, training, or other support provided by the pertinent organs, agencies, and entities of the Organization.

8. To instruct the General Secretariat to develop and facilitate periodic specialized seminars on small arms, light weapons, and ammunition destruction and on stockpile management, in conjunction with relevant United Nations agencies, such as the Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-LiREC).

9. To instruct the General Secretariat to compile information on national practices and on the technical and financial needs of member states for stockpile management and destruction of small arms and light weapons.

10. To instruct the General Secretariat to prepare, with support from the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), a handbook on best practices for stockpile management and destruction of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition.

11. To instruct the Permanent Council and the General Secretariat to carry out, as appropriate, the activities mentioned in this resolution, within the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.

12. To request the Secretary General to forward this resolution to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

13. To request the Permanent Council and the Secretary General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth regular session on the implementation of this resolution.