WORKING GROUP ON ILLICIT SMALL ARMS, LIGHT WEAPONS – FORMED BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY DECISION – BEGINS FIRST SUBSTANTIVE SESSION

working group on illicit small arms, light weapons – formed by General Assembly

decision – begins first substantive session

The first substantive session of the Open-ended Working Group to negotiate an international instrument to enable States to identify and trace, in a timely and reliable manner, illicit small arms and light weapons began today at United Nations Headquarters in New York, under the chairmanship of Anton Thalmann, Ambassador of Switzerland to Canada and the Bahamas.

The Group was established under resolution 58/241 adopted at the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly.  The decision of the Assembly followed the recommendation of a group of governmental experts established by the Secretary-General to study 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.

The Working Group will meet in New York three sessions of two weeks each, to conclude its work by June 2005.

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