OSCE supports regional workshop in Minsk to review implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

A regional workshop on the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004), regarding the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, was organized by the Belarus’ Foreign Ministry on 3 and 4 April 2019 in Minsk for representatives of countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The workshop was organized in co-operation with the 1540 Committee and its Group of Experts, and supported by the OSCE and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, with funding from the European Union.

The workshop gathered more than 60 participants from Armenia,  Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, together with representatives of the Belarusian industrial sector and experts from international and regional organizations, such as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the CIS Executive Committee, Interpol, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Implementation Support Unit for the Biological Weapons Convention.

Participants shared national best practices, assessed the progress made, identified further measures to enhance implementation of the Resolution, and discussed how to build capacities at the national and regional levels.

In his opening speech, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus, Oleg Kravchenko, said his country is pursuing a consistent and responsible policy in this field.  He said a comprehensive approach to implementing the Resolution implies close co-operation and co-ordination at the regional and global levels so to effectively counter the proliferation of materials and technologies that can be used to create weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

Head of the Forum for Security Co-operation Support Section of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre, Robin Mossinkoff, said that the OSCE, as a regional organization under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, has been recognized by the international community for its efforts in assisting the CIS States in improving their implementation of Resolution 1540 in recent years.

On behalf of Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, Aaron Junhoung Yoo noted with appreciation the efforts of the States in implementing Resolution 1540 and related ongoing activities arising from the recommendations of the first workshop in Minsk in 2013. This led to the development and submission of additional national implementation action plans, and the trilateral peer-review between Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, he said. Co-operation between the three States accelerated their process of accession to the 1925 Geneva Protocol and enhanced efforts towards harmonizing their national control lists with relevant multilateral export control regimes.