Co-Chairs' Summary
United Nations Workshop
on Small Arms and Light Weapons in Beijing
19th - 21st April 2005
The United Nations Workshop on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) was held in Beijing from 19th to 21st April 2005. The workshop was organized by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, Department for Disarmament Affairs and hosted by the Government of the People's Republic of China. The Workshop was co-sponsored by the Governments of China, Japan and Switzerland. 57 governmental representatives from 30 countries as well as 15 participants from various organizations and research institutes attended the workshop.
The objectives of the workshop were to identify major problems and challenges and share experiences, particularly in Southeast and Central Asian Countries, in combating the illicit trade in SALW; promote the further implementation of the Program of Action adopted at the 2001 UN Conference on SALW (PoA); facilitate the on-going negotiation of an international instrument on marking and tracing of SALW; and to enhance regional and multilateral efforts in the combat against illicit trade in SALW.
The workshop was opened by Mr. Nobuyasu Abe, the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations and H.E. Mr. Qiao Zonghuai, Vice Foreign Minister of China delivered welcome remarks as the representative of the host country. H.E. Mr. Mitsuro Donowaki, Special Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan and H.E. Mr. Dante Martinelli, Swiss Ambassador to China also addressed at the opening session.
The workshop was divided into seven sessions. At Plenary Session I, under the theme of "major problems and challenges in combating the illicit trade in SALW", the representative of Indonesia informed the participants of various co-operations among ASEAN states to implement the ASEAN Plan of Action on Transnational Crime adopted in 1998 and its work plan. The representative of Kazakhstan emphasized the urgency of regional cooperation to stop smuggling of illicit SALWs and referred to a communiqué adopted at the UN Workshop on SALW held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in March 2004. The participants welcomed Kazakhstan's first submission of its national report on the implementation of the PoA in 2004. During a general exchange of views, the participants identified and analyzed the growing threats and challenges to global and regional security posed by the illicit trade in SALW. There was broad consensus that the illicit trade in SALW has caused severe and a wide range of humanitarian and socio-economic consequences and posed a serious threat to peace, security, and sustainable development of various nations and regions. The participants shared the concerns about the close link between terrorism, transnational organized crime, drug-trafficking and the illicit trade in SALW and stressed the urgency to clearly define the problems associated with such trade and find ways of resolving them. In this regard, the participants paid considerable attention to the necessity of trans-border customs cooperation and networks for information-sharing among law enforcement, border and customs control agencies.
At Plenary Session II, under the theme of "further implementation of the PoA", representatives from the UN DDA, UNDP, Finland (in his capacity as Chairman-designate for the second Biennial Meeting of States on SALW) and China made keynote presentations followed by a general exchange of views. The participants reviewed the progress registered at all levels in the implementation of the PoA since the 2001 UN Conference on SALW, and examined the problems, including, inter alia, the loopholes in legislation, law enforcement, tracing and marking, stockpile management, and the failure to timely submit national reports.
All participants underscored the urgent need for further implementation of the PoA at various levels. The participants stressed the importance of timely submission of national reports with the caveat that there might be fatigue on the part of certain countries to provide annual report. It was suggested that biannual reporting should be considered to encourage more submission. The participants noted with appreciation the joint project between UN and the Small Arms Survey. They also lay special emphasis on the adoption of national programme of action and the establishment or designation of national points of contact and national coordinating agencies as appropriate for the implementation of the PoA. The participants called for renewed efforts in international co-operations, especially in capacity and institution building.
The participants discussed possible theme clusters of the Second Biennial Meeting of States, such as capacity-building and institution-building, national laws and regulations, SALW collection and destruction, marking and tracing. The participants noted that the fight against the illicit brokering in SALW is gaining momentum, and recognized the need for intensified international efforts on this issue. The participants encouraged greater regional and international cooperation in combating the illicit SALW brokering activities, and making full use of the national contact points established in accordance with the PoA and other relevant international or regional agencies.
The participants discussed the prospect of the on-going broad based consultations on further steps to enhance international cooperation in combating the illicit brokering in SALW. The participants commended the efforts taken by UN DDA in conducting such informal consultations, and expressed their hope for the establishment of a Group of Governmental Experts to consider further steps on this issue.
At Plenary Session III, under the theme of "sharing experiences in combating the illicit trade in SALW", representatives from China, Small Arms Survey, JSAC and Saferworld made keynote presentations. The participants had a useful and encouraging exchange of views regarding national legislations, SALW collection and destruction, and stockpile management. The participants were also informed of the useful role of the civil society organizations in the fight against illicit trafficking in SALW. It was a general view that the strengthening and developing of agreed norms and measures at the global, regional and national levels would reinforce and further coordinate efforts to combat the illicit trade in SALW. The participants recognized the need to criminalize the illegal manufacture, possession, stockpiling of SALW within national jurisdiction and put in place and implement, at national level, adequate laws, regulations and administrative procedures to ensure the effective control over the import, export and transit of SALW.
On the question of SALW collection and destruction, the case of JSAC programme in Cambodia was regarded as generally successful, because of the strong willingness to reduce SALW on the part of the Government of Cambodia. With respect to the question of stockpile management, views were expressed that capacity-building assistance should be extended not only to stockpiles of police forces but also to those of military forces. Lively discussion also took place on the desirability of regional arrangements to control the transfer of SALW without prejudice to the right of states to self-defense, and in this respect particular emphasis was placed on the control of MANPADS.
At Plenary Session IV, under the theme of 'marking and tracing of SALW', a representative from US made a presentation on the technical aspects of marking and marking methods. This presentation was followed by a discussion, in which the participants raised issues related to the exchange of information on national marking practices and fraudulent or counterfeit weapons manufacture, including markings.
The representative from Switzerland, in his capacity as chair of the UN Open Ended Working Group on tracing illicit SALW(OEWG), made a keynote presentation, followed by a general exchange of views, on the work of the OEWG to date. The participants thanked the chair for his role in guiding the work of the OEWG thus far, and for his efforts in producing the third draft text of the instrument. The participants noted that the Firearms Protocol (2001) and the Report of the Group of Governmental Experts (2003) provided a good basis for the work of the OEWG, and that the new instrument should complement the Firearms Protocol, while at the same time not being inconsistent with existing legal and political commitments on marking, record keeping and co-operations in tracing at regional and global levels.
The participants noted that there are still divergent views on such issues as the nature and scope of the instrument, particularly definitions of SALW, marking at the time of import, international co-operation and assistance and the right of UN peacekeeping missions to initiate tracing requests. The participants called all relevant parties to show flexibility in order to achieve consensus on these issues in the third session of the OEWG in June 2005, as a failure to reach consensus at the session might affect the future implementation of the PoA and the Firearms Protocol.
Sessions V and VI were breakout sessions for Central Asian and ASEAN countries, which examined the special concerns of respective regions. At Session V, representatives from Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) made keynote presentations. The representative from OSCE introduced their experiences in facilitating the national efforts of Central Asian countries in combating illicit SALW, including by adopting the OSCE Document on SALW, the Handbook of Best Practices on SALW, OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation Decisions on export control and control of brokering, conducting programmes of border management assistance, destruction of SALW surpluses and improvement of stockpiles security, etc. The representative from SCO assessed the general security situation, identifies the major security threats in the region, and on that basis, briefed on the institution building and security cooperation in the framework of SCO, with particular emphasis on the fight against illicit SALW. These presentations were followed by a general exchange of views. The participants from Central Asian countries noted that, due to the extended land borders among neighboring countries in the region, the improvement of border controls, the use of tactical intelligence and analysis against organized crimes, the sharing of information and cooperation across borders in combating the illicit trade are of great importance. Views were also expressed that while the issue of SALW is an important security issue, it should be tackled in conjunction with other efforts to promote the general security in Central Asia.
At Session VI, the participants listened to the presentation of EU-ASAC on its activities on post-conflict SALW management in Cambodia including six elements of its programme. The participants from 9 Southeast Asian countries who attended the Workshop informed each other of their actions in implementing key measures contained in the PoA based upon a questionnaire prepared and circulated by the Regional Centre. The questionnaire referred to, inter alia: national coordination agencies or bodies and institutional infrastructure; current legislative framework; law enforcement; brokering; manufacturing marking; tracing and recordkeeping; stockpile management; collection and disposal; capacity building and public awareness.
At Plenary Session VII, under the theme of "regional cooperation and multilateral efforts in combating the illicit trade in SALW", representatives from Malaysia, Thailand, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Interpol made keynote presentations, followed by a general exchange of views.
The participants supported, at sub-regional or regional level, the early establishment of effective mechanism for trans-border networks for information sharing and cooperation among police, border control and customs agencies. It was pointed out that such regional or sub-regional networks can also be built on existing bilateral arrangements among immediate neighbouring countries. With respect to Southeast Asia, the Work Programme of ASEAN Plan of Action in Combating Arms Smuggling adopted by the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) is one of the concrete steps taken in this direction. Also, suggestions were made for greater cooperation with Interpol through its Liaison Office in Southeast Asia in tracing illicit SALW, as well as cooperation with and assistance from ASEAN's dialogue partners in sharing information on illicit trafficking in SALW.
With respect to Central Asia, it was pointed out that all or most of the States in the region are members of extra-regional organizations, such as OSCE or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with which practical and useful co-operation related to SALW can be further strengthened.
The participants stressed the urgency of international assistance and cooperation, including financial and technical assistance to support and facilitate efforts at national, regional and global levels to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in SALW. The participants also encouraged intensified international cooperation and assistance in capacity building of countries or regions in need in such areas as legislation, law enforcement, tracing and marking, stockpile management and destruction of excessive or confiscated SALW. The participants also called for strengthening of cooperation and partnerships with civil society organizations to share relevant resources and information which will complement and assist other governmental efforts in combating and eradicating the illicit trade in SALW.
The workshop offered participating countries an excellent opportunity to share their experiences in addressing the problem of the illicit trade in SALW and to gather momentum of promoting both the political will and professional competence to deal with the problem at national, regional and global levels. It provided valuable inputs to the forthcoming OEWG meeting on tracing illicit SALW and the second Biannual Meeting of States to be held in June and July 2005 respectively. It thus turned out to be a timely, useful and successful meeting.
The participants at the workshop expressed their appreciation to the Chinese Government for its warm hospitality and excellent arrangements as the host country of the workshop, and also thanked the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, Department for Disarmament Affairs for organizing the workshop. They also thanked the Japanese and Swiss Governments for co-sponsoring the event.
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