Security Council

5877^th Meeting (AM)

SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS ‘1540 COMMITTEE’ FOR THREE YEARS TO HALT PROLIFERATION

OF MASS DESTRUCTION WEAPONS, ENCOURAGES STATES TO MAP OUT IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

Reaffirming that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their delivery means was a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council today extended for three years the mandate of the Committee created to monitor implementation of its resolution 1540 (2004), which called on all States to establish domestic controls and adopt legislation to prevent the proliferation and use by non-State actors of weapons of mass destruction.

Unanimously adopting resolution 1810 (2008) under the Charter’s Chapter VII, the Council decided that the 1540 Committee should intensify its efforts through its work programme to promote full implementation by all States of resolution 1540 (2004).  That included compiling information on the status of States’ implementation of 1540, outreach, dialogue, assistance and cooperation, and which addressed in particular all aspects of paragraph 1 and 2 as well as paragraph 3 on accountability, physical protection, border controls and law enforcement efforts, and national export and trans-shipment controls including controls on providing funds and services such as export and trans-shipment financing.

Paragraph 1 of resolution 1540 mandated that States shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempted to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.  Paragraph 2 of that resolution mandated that States, in accordance with national procedures, shall adopt and enforce appropriate effective laws that prohibited any non-State actor from developing or acquiring weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes.

In that connection, the Council today encouraged all States to prepare on a voluntary basis summary action plans, with the assistance of the 1540 Committee, mapping out their priorities and plans for implementing the key provisions of resolution 1540 and to submit those plans to the Committee.

Further to the text, the Council encouraged ongoing dialogue between the 1540 Committee and States on their further actions to fully implement resolution 1540 (2004) and on technical assistance needed and offered.  The Council requested that the Committee continue to organize and participate in regional, subregional and national outreach events to promote States’ implementation of the resolution as well as actively engage with States and relevant international, regional and subregional organizations to promote the sharing of experiences and lessons learned in areas covered by the resolution. 

The text was sponsored by China, Croatia, France, Italy, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.

The meeting convened at 12:02 p.m. and adjourned at 12:05 p.m.

Resolution

The full text of Council resolution 1810 (2008) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Reaffirming its resolutions 1540 (2004) of 28 April 2004 and 1673 (2006) of 27 April 2006,

“Reaffirming that proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security,

“Reaffirming the Statement of its President adopted at the Council’s meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government on 31 January 1992 (S/23500), including the need for all Member States to fulfil their obligations in relation to arms control and disarmament and to prevent proliferation in all its aspects of all weapons of mass destruction,

“Reaffirming that prevention of proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons should not hamper international cooperation in materials, equipment and technology for peaceful purposes while goals of peaceful utilization should not be used as a cover for proliferation,

“Affirming its resolve to take appropriate and effective actions against any threat to international peace and security caused by the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery, in conformity with its primary responsibilities, as provided for in the United Nations Charter,

“Reaffirming its decision that none of the obligations in resolution 1540 (2004) shall be interpreted so as to conflict with or alter the rights and obligations of State Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention or alter the responsibilities of the International Atomic Energy Agency or the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,

“Noting also that international co-operation between States, in accordance with international law, is required to counter the illicit trafficking by non-State actors in nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, their means of delivery, and related materials,

“Endorsing the work already carried out by the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004), hereafter the 1540 Committee, in accordance with its fifth Programme of Work,

“Bearing in mind the importance of the report requested in paragraph 6 of resolution 1673 (2006),

“Noting that not all States have presented to the 1540 Committee their national reports on implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), and that the full implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) by all States, including the adoption of national laws and measures to ensure implementation of these laws, is a long-term task that will require continuous efforts at national, regional and international levels,

“Recognizing in that regard the importance of dialogue between the 1540 Committee and Member States and stressing that direct contact is an effective means of such dialogue,

“Recognizing the need to enhance coordination of efforts on national, regional, subregional and international levels, as appropriate, in order to strengthen a global response to this serious challenge and threat to international security,

“Emphasizing in that regard the importance of providing States, in response to their requests, with effective assistance that meets their needs and stressing the importance of ensuring that the clearinghouse function for assistance is efficient and accessible,

“Taking note of international efforts towards full implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), including on preventing the financing of proliferation-related activities, taking into consideration the guidance of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),

“Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

“1.   Reiterates its decisions in and the requirements of resolution 1540 (2004) and emphasizes the importance for all States to implement fully that resolution;

“2.   Again calls upon all States that have not yet presented a first report on steps they have taken or intend to take to implement resolution 1540 (2004) to submit such a report to the 1540 Committee without delay;

“3.   Encourages all States that have submitted such reports to provide, at any time or upon the request of the 1540 Committee, additional information on their implementation of resolution 1540 (2004);

“4.   Encourages all States to prepare on a voluntary basis summary action plans, with the assistance of the 1540 Committee as appropriate, mapping out their priorities and plans for implementing the key provisions of resolution 1540 (2004), and to submit those plans to the 1540 Committee;

“5.   Encourages States that have requests for assistance to convey them to the 1540 Committee, and encourages them to make use of the Committee’s assistance template to that effect; urges States and international, regional and subregional organizations to inform the Committee as appropriate by 25 June 2008 of areas in which they are able to provide assistance; calls upon States and such organizations, if they have not done so previously, to provide the 1540 Committee with a point of contact for assistance by 25 June 2008;

“6.   Decides to extend the mandate of the 1540 Committee for a period of three years, with the continued assistance of experts, until 25 April 2011;

“7.   Requests the 1540 Committee to complete its report as set out in paragraph 6 of resolution 1673 (2006), and to submit it to the Security Council as soon as possible but no later than 31 July 2008;

“8.   Requests the 1540 Committee to consider a comprehensive review of the status of implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) and to report to the Council on its consideration on the matter by no later than 31 January 2009;

“9.   Decides that the Committee should submit an annual Programme of Work to the Security Council before the end of each January;

“10.  Decides that the 1540 Committee shall continue to intensify its efforts to promote the full implementation by all States of resolution 1540 (2004), through its Programme of Work which includes the compilation of information on the status of States’ implementation of all aspects of resolution 1540 (2004), outreach, dialogue, assistance and cooperation, and which addresses in particular all aspects of paragraphs 1 and 2 of that resolution, as well as of paragraph 3 which encompasses (a) accountability, (b) physical protection, (c) border controls and law enforcement efforts and (d) national export and trans-shipment controls including controls on providing funds and services such as financing to such export and trans-shipment;

“11.  Decides in that regard to:

“(a)  encourage the pursuit of the ongoing dialogue between the 1540 Committee and States on their further actions to implement fully resolution 1540 (2004) and on technical assistance needed and offered;

“(b)  request the 1540 Committee to continue to organize and participate in outreach events at the regional, subregional and, as appropriate, national level promoting States’ implementation of resolution 1540 (2004);

“(c)  urge the 1540 Committee to continue strengthening the Committee’s role in facilitating technical assistance for implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), including by engaging actively in matching offers and requests for assistance through such means as assistance templates, action plans or other information submitted to the 1540 Committee;

“(d)  encourage the 1540 Committee to engage actively with States and relevant international, regional and subregional organizations to promote the sharing of experience and lessons learned in the areas covered by resolution 1540 (2004), and to liaise on the availability of programmes which might facilitate the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004);

“(e)  request the 1540 Committee to provide opportunities for interaction with interested States and relevant international, regional and subregional organizations to promote implementation of resolution 1540 (2004);

“12.  Reiterates the need to enhance ongoing cooperation between the 1540 Committee, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999), concerning Al-Qaida and the Taliban, and the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001), concerning counter-terrorism, including through, as appropriate, enhanced information sharing, coordination on visits to countries, within their respective mandates, technical assistance and other issues of relevance to all three committees, and expresses its intention to provide guidance to the committees on areas of common interest in order better to coordinate their efforts;

“13.  Urges the 1540 Committee to encourage and take full advantage of voluntary financial contributions to assist States in identifying and addressing their needs for the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004), and requests the 1540 Committee to consider options for developing and making more effective existing funding mechanisms, and to report to the Council on its consideration of the matter by no later than 31 December 2008;

“14.  Decides that the 1540 Committee will submit to the Security Council a report no later than 24 April 2011 on compliance with resolution 1540 (2004) through the achievement of the implementation of its requirements;

“15.  Decides to remain seized of the matter.”

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