In progress at UNHQ

DC/3619

United Nations Regional Centre Hosts International Workshop on Implementation of Arms Trade Treaty in Bangkok, 4-5 April

NEW YORK, 4 April (United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs) — Government arms-transfer controls experts from member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as representatives of various international institutes, non-governmental organizations and the United Nations, are meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on 4-5 April, to exchange views and share experiences regarding their preparations for the future implementation of the principles and provisions of the Arms Trade Treaty, including implementation challenges.

They will gather at a workshop aimed at fostering regional dialogue and enhancing the capacity of Governments to meet the Treaty’s provisions on the establishment and maintenance of national control systems for conventional arms transfers, as well as on reporting, in accordance with the Arms Trade Treaty’s requirements.

Having entered into force in December 2014, the Arms Trade Treaty is the first-ever legally binding instrument global instrument to regulate the trade in conventional weapons.  It aims to establish common standards for their import, export, transit, and trans-shipment, as well as to control broker activities and undertake measures to prevent the diversion of arms.  To date, 130 States have signed the Treaty and 82 of them have deposited their instruments of ratification with the Secretary-General.

The Bangkok workshop will include a separate side event on implementation of Security Council resolution 1540 (2004), thereby providing an opportunity to address national export-control issues and measures to prevent non-State actors from gaining access to materials that could be used for the production of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes.  Resolution 1540 (2004) imposes binding obligations on all States to adopt legislation to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and their means of delivery, and to establish appropriate domestic controls over related materials to prevent their illicit trafficking.

Organized by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, in cooperation with the Government of Thailand, the workshop is made possible through financial support from the United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulations.

For further information, please contact Yuriy Kryvonos, Interim Director of the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, at info@unrcpd.org.

For information media. Not an official record.