300th mission and 600th inspection under the Dayton Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control
When
Where
Organized by
The inspected Declared Site was Zaluzani Airport, Banja Luka. The inspection was completed on 24 September 2008. The Declared Site was very well prepared and the inspection was carried out in a fast and professional manner.
The OSCE provided assistants to the Inspection Team from Germany and the Czech Republic, while the Escort Team was supported by the United States and Slovakia.
This brings the total number of inspections carried out to 600 so far. In addition, a total of 127 reduction inspections have been successfully conducted.
It has been possible to carry out these missions and inspections thanks to the contribution of more than one thousand OSCE assistants provided by 29 supporting countries.
The Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control was signed in 1996, and the first inspections took place from 18-19 August that year. The object of inspection was the 1st Armoured Brigade in Belgrade.
Implementation
The implementation of the Agreement is set out in various protocols for specifying the reduction methods, the structure of the annual exchange of information, and the inspections designed to verify on the basis of the information pursuant to the Protocol on Exchange of Information and Notifications the compliance of the Parties with the numerical limitations set forth in Article IV of the Agreement.
A continuous review of the implementation of the Agreement is realized through the Sub-Regional Consultative Commission (SRCC) and through the Review Conference held every two years. The members of these bodies are high-level representatives of all the Parties.
The Personal Representative
Brigadier General Costanzo Periotto of Italy was appointed Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office for Article IV of Annex 1-B of the Dayton Peace Accords in September 2007.
In consultation with the Parties to the Agreement, Brigadier General Periotto is responsible for assisting with and supporting its implementation. Broadly speaking, the Personal Representative's role is to broker political consensus, ensure that the process flows, and surmount obstacles to the implementation of the Agreement.