Fifty-seventh session
First Committee
Agenda item 66 (v)
General and complete disarmament: the illicit trade
in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects

Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eritrea, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Zambia and Zimbabwe: draft resolution

The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects

The General Assembly,

Reaffirming its resolution 56/24 V of 24 December 2001,

Recalling its resolutions 50/70 B of 12 December 1995, 52/38 J of 9 December 1997, 53/77 E and 53/77 T of 4 December 1998, 54/54 R of 1 December 1999, 54/54 V of 15 December 1999 and 55/33 Q of 20 November 2000,

Emphasizing the importance of early and full implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, which was adopted at the United Nations Conference held in New York from 9 to 20 July 2001,

1. Decides to convene the first of the biennial meetings of States as stipulated in the Programme of Action, to consider national, regional and global implementation of the Programme of Action in New York in July 2003;
2. Welcomes the convening of the Group of Governmental Experts established to assist the Secretary-General to undertake a study to examine the feasibility of developing an international instrument to enable States to identify and trace, in a timely and reliable manner, illicit small arms and light weapons and to submit the study to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session;
3. Encourages all initiatives to mobilize resources and expertise to promote implementation of the Programme of Action and to provide assistance to States in their implementation of the Programme of Action;
4. Decides to consider at its fifty-eighth session further steps to enhance international cooperation in preventing, combating and eradicating illicit brokering in small arms and light weapons taking into consideration the views of States, provided to the Secretary-General, on such further steps that could be taken;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to collate and circulate data and information provided by States on a voluntary basis, including national reports, on implementation by those States of the Programme of Action;
6. Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution;
7. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-eighth session the item entitled "The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects".

Related Information (Japan's Submission of a Draft Resolution on Nuclear Disarmament and a Draft Resolution on Small Arms and Light Weapons to The United Nations General Assembly)