Statement by Ms. Makiko Tanaka, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Results of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects

July 23, 2001
Japanese

The United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects which has taken place since July 9 in New York, adopted the "Programme of Action" on July 21 (local time). This "Programme of Action" incorporates measures for preventing the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, fostering the international cooperation for collecting and destroying small arms and light weapons, and the follow-up of the Conference. The adoption of the "Programme of Action" shows the strong political will that the international community will actively tackle the issue as a whole. Japan highly values the adoption of the Programme, which is an extremely significant step forward toward a solution of the issue.
Under "The Three Principles on Arms Export" Japan has been dealing with the problems of arms export in a cautious manner, and has been taking the lead internationally in dealing with the issue; we regard the follow-up of the results of the Conference to be of utmost importance. Japan will continue to engage actively in the issue through activities such as promoting the project to collect small arms and light weapons. In particular, based on the results of the Conference, Japan will make arrangements with the countries concerned to host a follow-up conference (experts' meeting) early next year, in order to review experience of each country and region, and to discuss measures to be taken in the future.

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