Resolution on the UN Conference on illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons in July 2001

The European Parliament adopted the resolution on the UN Conference on illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons. In advance of the UN Conference to be held in July 2001, the House calls for UN Member States - and EU Member States in particular - to treat the fight against such arms as a priority and to make a constructive contribution to the success of the UN Conference. In particular, the EU is urged to include the following elements in the Commission's Action Programme for the Conference: commitment to the negotiation of a legally binding convention on arms brokering and sales; global restrictive criteria for arms exports; effective measures to ensure and monitor the end-use of small arms; measures to improve public transparency and parliamentary scrutiny and to collect and destroy illegally held weapons; and effective measures to stop arms transfers likely to reach perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious human rights. UN Members are also urged to agree on concrete measures to implement the Action Programme and to agree concrete follow-up measures following the Conference.�