Regional Workshop on Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) Hosted by Government of Cambodia

NEW YORK, 17 October (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The Government of Cambodia, in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, hosted a regional workshop on the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) for member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The meeting took place from 15 to 17 October in Phnom Penh.  This first workshop organized for ASEAN States focused on the effective physical protection and accounting of “Related Materials”^* under Security Council resolution 1540 (2004).

Representatives of nine ASEAN member States, as well as international and regional organizations, attended this event.  Participating States engaged in information-exchange and experience-sharing, and discussed effective national practices to implement resolution 1540 (2004), as well as cooperation with relevant international and regional organizations.

The Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, unanimously adopted resolution 1540 (2004) on 28 April 2004 obliging all States to enforce effective measures and establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery to non-State actors.  To this end, States are required to develop and maintain appropriate effective measures to account for and secure such items in production, use, storage or transport, and to develop and maintain appropriate effective physical protection measures.

The Phnom Penh workshop was organized with funds provided by the European Union, Republic of Korea, Norway and the United States.

For more information on the work of the Regional Centre, please visit http://unrcpd.org.

* As defined by resolution 1540 (2004), these “Related Materials” include materials, equipment and technology covered by relevant multilateral treaties and arrangements, or included on national control lists, which could be used for the design, development, production or use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery.