EXPERT REVIEW OF REGISTER OF CONVENTIONAL ARMS AT HEADQUARTERS, 17-21 MARCH

EXPERT REVIEW OF REGISTER OF CONVENTIONAL ARMS AT HEADQUARTERS, 17-21 MARCH

NEW YORK, 17 March (Department for Disarmament Affairs) -- A group of governmental experts on the continuing operation and further development of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms is holding its first meeting for the year from 17 to 21 March at United Nations Headquarters.  This is the fourth review of the Register; previous reviews were conducted in 1994, 1997 and 2000.

The Register is a voluntary reporting instrument that covers seven major categories of conventional arms:  battle tanks, large-calibre artillery, combat vehicles, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships (including submarines), and missiles (including missile launchers).  Its primary emphasis is on international transfers (export and import), while participating governments are also encouraged to provide data on procurement through national production and military holding.

Established in 1992, this instrument completed 10 years of operation last year, recording its highest level of participation, with 125 governments submitting reports, including “nil” returns by nations that did not have any transfers to declare.  So far, 162 governments have reported to the Register one or more times since 1992.

Besides examining the progress made so far in terms of participation level and the quality of data submitted by States, the governmental experts will examine a range of issues pertaining to the current scope of the Register, its existing procedures and operation, as well as the implementation of recommendations made by the group of governmental experts in 2000. 

The group will also consider the outcome of a series of regional and subregional workshops held over the last two years in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.  The Department for Disarmament Affairs facilitated these workshops in cooperation with the Governments of Canada, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.

The group was established pursuant to General Assembly resolution 57/75 of

22 November 2002, which requests the Secretary-General, with the assistance of a group of governmental experts to be convened in 2003, on the basis of equitable geographical representation, to prepare a report on the continuing operation of the Register and its further development, with a view to a decision at its fifty-eighth session.

Twenty-four Member States representing different regions and subregions have been invited to participate in the fourth review, which will be chaired by Ambassador Roberto García Moritán of Argentina.

For further information:  contact Nazir Kamal, Conventional Arms Branch, Department for Disarmament Affairs, tel: 1-212-963-6195 or -1075.

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