US Mission Geneva

The United States places great value in CCW as a framework that brings together States with diverse national security interests; we all share the collective goal of balancing military necessity with real concern for the humanitarian consequences of certain conventional weapons.

U.S. ready to restart work within CCW on a new MOTAPM protocol, if it appears that consensus is possible.

The protocol would have led to the immediate prohibition of many millions of cluster munitions; placed the remaining cluster munitions under a detailed set of restrictions and regulations; and subjected member states to a detailed list of additional obligations on issues such as clearance, transparency and destruction, all of which would have led to a substantial humanitarian impact on the ground.

CCW Protocol would not dimnish or detract from the Oslo Convention, and would be a significant step toward a goal everyone shares, which is to address comprehensively the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions.

A CCW protocol on Cluster Munitions offers the only chance of bringing the world’s major cluster munitions users and producers — who represent between 85 and 90 percent of the world’s cluster munitions stockpiles, and are not in a position to join the Oslo Convention — into a legally binding set of prohibitions and regulations.

“The United States continues to believe that a CCW Protocol on Cluster Munitions that provides a substantial humanitarian impact on the ground is an essential and achievable goal. A CCW Protocol along the lines of the Chair’s text that imposes meaningful requirements on the countries that are the major users and producers of cluster munitions and who hold approximately 90% of the world’s stockpiles would be an important and undeniable step forward from a humanitarian viewpoint —with the effect of immediately prohibiting more than 2 million U.S. cluster munitions alone.”

The United States remains committed to reaching an agreement on a legally binding protocol in the CCW to mitigate the humanitarian impact to civilian populations resulting from the use of cluster munitions. You of course have our full support as you lead us in this endeavor this week.

The United States believes that it should be possible to reach agreement in the CCW on a protocol on cluster munitions that will have significant humanitarian benefits. The U.S. Delegation is committed to working cooperatively with delegations across the spectrum of views represented here to achieve this positive result.

During the course of this week, we have already had productive discussions on this year’s work regarding the Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War and Amended Protocol II on Landmines. This year, we have also engaged in serious negotiations of a Protocol on Cluster Munitions.