AG/RES. 2107 (XXXV-O/05) : The Americas As A Biological And Chemical Weapons-Free Region

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 7, 2005)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Permanent Council, in particular the section related to hemispheric security issues (AG/doc.4376/05 add. 5);

AWARE of the determination of the international community to eradicate the development, production, use, stockpiling, and transfer of biological and chemical weapons;

WELCOMING United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004), which affirmed that the "proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security," and member states’ commitments contained therein;

BEARING IN MIND the Declaration on Security in the Americas, adopted at the Special Conference on Security, held in Mexico City, Mexico, in October 2003, in which the states of the Hemisphere declared their objective "to make the Americas a region free of biological and chemical weapons," and in particular its paragraphs 4.m, 4.y, 12, 13, and 14;

RECALLING its resolution AG/RES. 1236 (XXIII-O/93), "Cooperation for Security and Development in the Hemisphere: Regional Contributions to Global Security," which recognized the efforts of the member states to contribute to regional and global security and which commended them for their accession to the principles of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention);

RECALLING ALSO its resolutions AG/RES. 1624 (XXIX-O/99), "Inter-American Support for the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction"; and AG/RES. 2000 (XXXIV-O/04) and AG/RES. 1966 (XXXIII-O/03), "The Americas as a Biological- and Chemical-Weapons-Free Region";

REAFFIRMING member states’ commitment to arms control, disarmament, and the nonproliferation of all weapons of mass destruction, and to the principles and norms of the Chemical Weapons Convention; the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention); and the 1925 Geneva Protocol to the 1907 Hague Convention;

NOTING that 27 member states are states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention and 31 member states are states parties to the Biological Weapons Convention;

UNDERSCORING the importance of universal participation by all member states in the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention and their full implementation, in accordance with the domestic legal framework of each member state;

UNDERSCORING FURTHER that full adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention remains an important goal that requires continued effort; and

WELCOMING the activities of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), among them regional meetings and the establishment of action plans, that encourage universal adherence to and foster full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention,

RESOLVES:

1. To fulfill concretely the shared commitment of member states to make the Americas a region free of biological and chemical weapons.

2. To reaffirm member states’ commitment to arms control, disarmament, and the nonproliferation of all weapons of mass destruction, and to the principles and norms of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention); the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention); and the 1925 Geneva Protocol to the 1907 Hague Convention.

3. To urge those member states which have not yet done so to consider acceding as soon as possible to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention, to consider subscribing to the International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (ICOC), and to promote the universalization of these conventions and arrangements.

4. To urge member states to adopt, at the national level, legal and administrative measures for the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (Article VII) and the Biological Weapons Convention (Article IV), and to establish, in accordance with Article VII of the Chemical Weapons Convention, competent National Authorities responsible for liaising with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

5. To urge member states to fulfill their obligations under United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) to take and enforce without delay effective measures to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons and their means of delivery, including by establishing appropriate controls over related materials, and to refrain from providing any form of support to non-state actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer, or use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons and their means of delivery.

6. To encourage those states in a position to do so to offer assistance as appropriate in response to specific requests from member states lacking sufficient legal and regulatory infrastructure, implementation experience, and/or resources for fulfilling this resolution or United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004).

7. To request the Permanent Council to hold, at the level of the Committee on Hemispheric Security, a special meeting dedicated to promoting universality of the Chemical Weapons Convention and an exchange of information on experiences in legislative and administrative measures required for the implementation of that Convention and on the efforts of member states to fulfill their commitment to a region free of biological and chemical weapons, in accordance with paragraph 13 of the Declaration on Security in the Americas.

8. To request the Permanent Council to hold, at the level of the Committee on Hemispheric Security, a special meeting dedicated to combating the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, their delivery systems, and related materials within the framework of United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004).

9. To request the Secretary General to transmit this resolution to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and to the Director-General of the OPCW.

10. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth regular session on the implementation of this resolution, which will be carried out within the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.