AG/RES. 2268 (XXXVII-O/07) Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions

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 section on the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions;

BEARING IN MIND:

That one of the essential purposes of the Organization of American States (OAS) set forth in its Charter is to achieve an effective limitation of conventional weapons that will make it possible to devote the largest amount of resources to the economic and social development of the member states;

That the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions recognizes that, in accordance with the Charter of the Organization of American States and the Charter of the United Nations, member states have the inherent right to individual and collective self-defense;

That the preamble to the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions reiterates the importance of annual reporting to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms of information on imports, exports, military holdings, and procurement through national production of major weapon systems;

The progress achieved by the Group of Governmental Experts on the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms; and

That the Declaration on Security in the Americas recognizes that transparency in conventional weapons acquisitions and in defense policies, the limitation of military spending, while maintaining capabilities commensurate with legitimate defense and security needs, as well as other cooperation mechanisms between countries, are important confidence- and security-building measures which contribute to the reduction of tensions and to the strengthening of regional and international peace and security;

CONSIDERING that, in the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas (Quebec City, 2001), the Heads of State and Government declared that they would strive to improve the transparency and accountability of defense and security institutions and promote greater understanding and cooperation among government agencies involved in security and defense issues, through such means as increased sharing of defense policy and doctrine papers and personnel and information exchanges, including improving transparency in arms acquisitions;

NOTING that, in the Declaration of Managua of the Seventh Conference of Ministers of Defense of the Americas, the Ministers of Defense urged member states that had not yet done so to ratify or accede to the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT resolutions AG/RES. 2110 (XXXV-O/05), AG/RES. 2113 (XXXV-O/05), AG/RES. 2188 (XXXVI-O/06), and AG/RES. 2246 (XXXVI-O/06), in which the General Assembly supported the convocation of the meeting of states parties to the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions, to which non-member states would be invited. The resolutions also sought to review implementation of the Convention, to consider activities aimed at promoting signature and ratification of the Convention, and to request the General Secretariat to establish, on the basis of information submitted by states parties, a list of points of contact to participate in the meeting of states parties and also serve as the focal points in their respective countries for complying with the reporting requirements of the Convention and for responding to inquiries regarding the Convention. Finally, the resolutions also urged member states to consider activities aimed at preparing for the first Conference of States Parties, in 2009, pursuant to Article VIII of the Convention; and

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION that the Governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela have deposited their instruments of ratification of the Convention, bringing to 12 the number of OAS member states that are states parties to the Convention,

RESOLVES:

1. To reaffirm its commitment to the principles of the Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions and other related instruments applicable at the global, regional, and subregional levels.

2. To invite all member states which have not already done so to consider signing, ratifying, and/or acceding to the Convention.

3. To urge states parties to submit, in a timely fashion, annual reports and notifications in compliance with their obligations under Articles III and IV of the Convention.

4. To request the General Secretariat to prepare as soon as possible, on the basis of the annual reports and the notifications presented, a database for the benefit of the states parties to the Convention. In carrying out this task, the General Secretariat may request support from the Inter-American Defense Board, within the framework of the Board's Statutes.

5. To urge states parties to identify national points of contact by no later than July 15, 2007.

6. To request the Secretary General to identify the office within the General Secretariat responsible for the functioning and application of the Convention and for the periodic dissemination to states parties of pertinent reports, including a list of national points of contact.

7. To urge the General Secretariat to circulate to states parties a collated annual report of information and separate notifications which it has received by June 15 of each year, having preceded the report with a 45-day advance reminder to the national points of contact of the upcoming due date.

8. To request that the Permanent Council, through the Committee on Hemispheric Security, meet annually to consider the functioning and application of the Convention.

9. To convene a one-day meeting of states parties in 2008 to prepare for the 2009 Conference of States Parties, and to review the functioning and application of the Convention, including a critical analysis of the reporting system with regard to transparency in the acquisition of conventional weapons in the Hemisphere. Invitations would be extended to non-states parties, pertinent regional and international organizations, and civil society organizations, to attend as observers.

10. To request that the General Secretariat, in accordance with Article V of the Convention, contact the permanent observers to the OAS so that they may contribute to the objective of the Convention by providing information annually to the General Secretariat on their exports of conventional weapons to the states parties to the Convention.

11. To invite states parties, non-states parties, permanent observers, regional and international organizations, and civil society organizations interested in transparency in conventional weapons acquisitions to consider the possibility of offering technical assistance to those states that so request and/or making voluntary contributions to support activities related to the application of the Convention.

12. To request the Secretary General to present a report to the Permanent Council prior to the thirty-eighth regular session of the General Assembly on the status of signatures and ratifications of the Convention and of accessions thereto.

13. To request the General Secretariat to consult with the Secretariat of the United Nations on how the mechanisms for the presentation of reports on this subject function and are applied for implementation of the Convention.

14. To instruct the Permanent Council to carry out the activities mentioned in this resolution in accordance with the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.

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