§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what policies his Department will adopt at the UN conference in New York in July on the trade in small arms and light weapons; and if he will make a statement. [1860]
§ Mr. BradshawThe Government attach great importance to supporting efforts to reduce the uncontrolled spread and use of small arms and light weapons.
The UK and its European partners have consistently maintained that the forthcoming UN conference on the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects should adopt a politically binding programme of action containing concrete measures to deal with both the supply and demand side of the trade. The UK has made substantial contributions to proposals put forward by the EU on key areas of the programme of action. These include:
export control and export licensing criteria;marking and tracing and brokering where the EU hopes for progress towards a commitment regarding the elaboration of a legally binding instrument;management of stockpiles and surpluses, and destruction;disarmament, demobilasation and reintegration (DD&R) of ex-combatants;assistance for implementation of concrete measures agreed on, with a view to improving the situation on demand side, through weapons collection and destruction, capacity-building for border control, customs and law enforcement etc.We believe that the conference should not be seen as the end but the start of a process, which must be actively followed up. The EU has supported the proposal of the preparatory committee chairman, Ambassador Dos Santos, for a major review conference in 2006, with meetings of states on a bi-annual basis to consider the national and regional implementation of the agreed programme of action.
107WThe Government also acknowledge the important role which NGOs and civil society can play in this field. We are working to see their interests reflected in the conference's programme of action and in its follow-up.