Croatia to Host United Nations Workshop on Implementing Security Council

Resolution 1540 (2004) in Split, 14–17 June

 

NEW YORK, 10 June (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — A regional United Nations workshop on implementing United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) will be held from 14 to 17 June in Split, Croatia.

Hosted by the Government of Croatia, the workshop is organized by the Office for Disarmament Affairs with financial support from the European Union and the Governments of Norway and the United States.  Officials from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey have been invited to participate, as have representatives from a number of international, regional and subregional organizations.

Consistent with the objectives of Security Council resolution 1540 (2004), the workshop aims to enhance national capacities for the practical management of export-control processes and to improve the sharing of information and experiences by participating countries.  The workshop is also expected to facilitate assistance relating to the resolution’s implementation.

Acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1540 (2004) on 28 April 2004, establishing the 1540 Committee as a subsidiary body and obliging all States to refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors attempting to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.  The text requires all States to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, including by establishing appropriate controls over related materials.  It also affirms support for multilateral treaties aimed at eliminating or preventing their proliferation.

By its resolution 1810 of 25 April 2008, the Council requested the Committee to continue to organize and participate in regional and subregional outreach events promoting States’ implementation of resolution 1540 (2004).  The Split workshop is the sixth regional workshop organized by the Office for Disarmament Affairs on the implementation of resolution 1540 (2004) since 2008.  The five previous ones were held in Brazil for MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) States in November 2008; in Qatar for Arab States in March 2009; in Vanuatu for Pacific Island States in April-May 2009; in Costa Rica for Central American States in September 2009; and in Egypt for African States in December 2009.

For further information, please contact:  Gabriele Kraatz-Wadsack at tel.:  +1 212 963 3633.

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For information media • not an official record