Adoption of the draft outcome paper on the implementation
of the International Tracing Instrument
Egypt introduced changes to the draft outcome paper on
the implementation of the ITI.
Iran announced it needed to await instructions from its
capital on the changes and requested a decision on adopting
the document be delayed until Friday.
The chair accepted minor technical amendments to the text
suggest by South Africa and the United States.
The conference agreed to include an eighth paragraph noting
that some states emphasized the importance of a legally-binding
instrument (request by Colombia) and that other states considered
the nature of the document to have been settled through
negotiation (requested by the United States in response
to Colombia’s request).
The chair was compelled to accept the outcome document
ad referendum, over Iran’s objections, after
Iran refused to back away from its position on the need
to consult its capital, despite the approval of the text
as it stood by all other delegations. This allowed delegations
to submit views on the text prior to consideration of the
BMS final report on Friday.
Highlights from the presentations by
non-governmental organizations
Presentations by and its partner organizations
presentations on a variety of issues:
IANSA encouraged governments to visit stockpiles of arms
and ammunition in order to understand the threats they pose
to local populations. IANSA recommended that states:
Implement procedures for marking arms in government
stockpiles;
Implement measures for accepting arms and ammunition;
Restrict access to stockpiles to trained and authorized
personnel;
Control weapons from the point of departure, in transit
sites, and at the point of arrival;
Ensure weapons and ammunition are transported in appropriate
packaging under appropriate conditions;
Identify surplus SALW and destroy them in timely fashion;
Ensure surplus stockpiles are well managed, secured,
and transported to point of destruction; and
Computerize their ITI registers and requests for tracing.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights encouraged
stricter regulations on licensing for gun ownership, pointing
to gaps in related legislation throughout the Middle East,
and recommended that:
Arab governments amend national laws pertaining gun
ownership in line with human rights laws and draft and
adopt legal document to prevent or control export of
weapons;
Civil society must take part in drafting this instrument;
heritage and culture pertaining to guns must be changed
at the government level and changed to one of a culture
of peace; and
Measures be proposed to activate role of police to
better limit spread of weapons and to deal with cases
where guns are used.
The Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom referred
delegates to IANSA Women’s Group recommendations on
gender and gun violence and argued that UNSC resolutions
1325 and 1820 cannot be implemented as long as there is
no control over the illicit trade in SALW.
PIR Center (Russia) urged the BMS to recommend that all
member states implement GGE recommendations on illegal brokering.
The Philippines Action Network emphasized the importance
of cooperation between various civil society, government,
and international organizations.
The IANSA Public Health Network urged increased involvement
of Ministers of Health in SALW control issues.
IANSA Director Rebecca Peters urged states that are uneasy
about working with civil society to talk to those states
who are working with civil society.
Government responses to the NGO presentations
Egypt argued the presentation by the Egyptian Organization
on Human Rights was misinformed.
Australia agreed that gender considerations and the measures
included in UNSC resolutions 1325 and 1820 must be included
in SALW considerations.
Highlights from the thematic discussion
on marking and tracing
provided an overview of key elements
of the International Tracing Instrument (ITI), explained
the three pillars of tracing are marking, record keeping,
and cooperation in tracing, and discussed current priorities
for implementation of the ITI.
highlighted fundamental principles of the ITI.
The emphasized the importance of cooperation between
countries and international organizations in tracing SALW.
argued the ITI should have been made legally-binding and
should have included ammunition. CARICOM also said marking
and tracing require a comprehensive international assistance
framework to provide training in marking, tracing, and the
confiscation of weapons and policy design and implementation.
expressed concern with the reliability of marking and agreed
international assistance is needed for relevant training
and technology.
also said systematic information about tracing needs to
be given to national contact points regularly.
encouraged a clearly defined role for NGOs that maintain
marking and tracing databases and humanitarian NGOs that
can trace the flow of SALW through their communities. Algeria
also requested the establishment of an open-ended working
group or GGE to work on an ITI for ammunition.
encouraged the BMS to recommend or highlight:
The need for states to adopt binding measures regarding
illicit trade in SALW;
The importance of marking weapons at the time of
their manufacture in compliance with the ITI;
The need for states to ensure this happens regardless
of additional costs;
The need for technical assistance;
The need for training for officials in protocols
for the entry, exit, and transit of SALW; and
The importance of increased cooperation through exchange
of information.
said the Firearm Protocol supplements the ITI and PoA and
recommended it be referenced in the outcome document.
emphasized the need for the ITI’s provisions to apply
to the security sector, not just the military. Ghana also
requested assistance in forensics training for marking and
tracing.
suggested that Interpol’s electronic tracing database
be extended to cover arms traders that have been refused
licenses by some states.
highlighted several priority areas where national action
and international cooperation can help promote the implementation
of the ITI:
Ensuring states possess the technology to put indelible
marks on firearms;
Ensuring states effectively use adequate, computerized
record-keeping systems and follow-up on tracing requests;
Thinking creatively to use international cooperation
to implement ITI;
Merging reporting under the PoA and the ITI; and
Ammunition should also be marked.
The suggested establishment of a common database
would help states exchange information on tracing.
said international assistance for implementing the ITI should
not be conditioned on national reporting.
said the control of SALW and ammunition needed to be approached
in an integrated manner, emphasizing the importance of technical
assistance.
RECSA encouraged the BMS to recommend the commencement
of a process to make the ITI legally-binding.
The urged all states to
actively trace weapons recovered during or after an armed
conflict. The ICRC also recommended that government experts
directly involved in implementing the ITI meet on a regular
basis to share their experience and consider implementation
of the instrument.
