U.S. Department of State

General Assembly of the Organization of American States
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 6, 2006

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly, in particular the section on the matters entrusted to the Committee on Hemispheric Security (AG/doc.4548 add. 2-c);

REITERATING the urgent need for all member states to take the appropriate measures and to cooperate with one another to prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials, because of the harmful effects of these activities on the security of each state and the region as a whole, since they jeopardize the well-being of peoples, their social and economic development, and their right to live in peace;

UNDERSCORING the importance of the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA) for promoting and facilitating cooperation and the sharing of information and experiences among the states parties with a view to preventing, combating, and eradicating the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials;

REAFFIRMING the importance of the decisions adopted by the First Conference of the States Party to the CIFTA, held in Bogot�, Colombia, on March 8 and 9, 2004, and in particular the commitments and measures agreed to in the Declaration of Bogot� on the Functioning and Application of the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials;

RECALLING that, in the Declaration of Nuevo Le�n, adopted on January 13, 2004, the democratically elected Heads of State and Government of the Americas, gathered for the Special Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, expressed their commitment to fight all forms of transnational crime, including illicit arms trafficking;

CONSIDERING that the states of the Hemisphere recognized, in the Declaration on Security in the Americas, adopted on October 28, 2003, in Mexico City, that the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials are a threat to hemispheric security and, when used by terrorists and criminals, undermine the rule of law, breed violence and, in some cases, impunity, exacerbate conflicts, and represent a serious threat to human security, and that they agreed to combat the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firarms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials;

BEARING IN MIND the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and the hemispheric contribution to its implementation, and the importance of taking concrete measures in the Hemisphere toward implementation of the national, regional, and global components of that Programme of Action;

RECALLING resolutions AG/RES. 1 (XXIV-E/97), AG/RES. 1621 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1750 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1800 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1874 (XXXII-O/02), AG/RES. 1972 (XXXIII-O/03), AG/RES. 1999 (XXXIV-O/04), and AG/RES. 2094 (XXXV-O/05), regarding the CIFTA;

CONSIDERING the substantial progress made by the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA, especially the decisions adopted at its seventh regular meeting, held on April 6, 2006;

BEARING IN MIND Permanent Council resolution CP/RES. 906 (1550/06), "Convocation of the Second Meeting of the CIFTA-CICAD Group of Experts to Prepare Model Legislation on the Areas Covered by the CIFTA," adopted in fulfillment of resolution AG/RES. 2094 (XXXV-O/05);

NOTING WITH SATISFACTION:

The results of the First Meeting of the CIFTA-CICAD Group of Experts to Prepare Model Legislation on the Areas Covered by the CIFTA, held on February 6 and 7, 2006, at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS), in Washington, D.C.;

The Work Program 2006-2007 of the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA, approved by that Committee at its seventh regular meeting;

The results of the First Meeting of National Authorities Directly Responsible for Granting Export, Import, and International Transit Licenses or Authorizations for Transfers of Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials, held on October 6 and 7, 2005, at OAS headquarters;

The results and recommendations of the Second Meeting of Central Authorities and Other Experts on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition within the framework of the Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers and Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA), held in Brasilia, Brazil, from September 1 to 3, 2005; and

The participation of the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA, through its Secretariat pro tempore, in the United Nations Second Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, held from July 11 to 15, 2005, at United Nations headquarters in New York;

HAVING SEEN the report of the Secretary General on the status of signatures and ratifications of the CIFTA and taking note of the fact that this Convention has been signed by 33 member states and ratified by 26 of them; and

REAFFIRMING the importance of the soonest possible entry into force of the CIFTA in all member states in order to facilitate and guarantee the achievement of its purposes throughout the Hemisphere,

RESOLVES:

1. To urge all member states that have not already done so to give prompt consideration to ratifying or acceding to, as the case may be, the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), and to adopting all necessary measures for its effective implementation.
   
2. To support, in the framework of the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA, the Second Meeting of the CIFTA-CICAD Group of Experts to Prepare Model Legislation on the Areas Covered by the CIFTA, scheduled for October 11, 12, and 13, 2006, to finalize, on the first day, the draft model legislation on the marking and tracing of firearms, and to begin preparing the draft model legislation on strengthening controls at export points, in accordance with the provisions of Permanent Council resolutions CP/RES. 884 (1484/05) and CP/RES. 906 (1550/06).
   
3. To request the Permanent Council to consider, and as appropriate, to adopt ad referendum of the thirty-seventh regular session of the General Assembly, the model legislation referred to in operative paragraph 2 of this resolution, on the marking and tracing of firearms.
   
4. To congratulate the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA on adopting the general guidelines for organizing and standardizing the format of the reports that states must submit on Articles VIII, IX, X, and XIII of the CIFTA, in order to strengthen monitoring of the implementation of the Convention.
   
5. To endorse the recommendation of the Second Meeting of Central Authorities and Other Experts on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition within the framework of the Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA), (Brazil, September 2005) that future meetings of central authorities and other experts on mutual assistance in criminal matters and extradition consider strengthening these areas in the framework of the CIFTA and with respect to acts of corruption, in compliance with the commitments set forth in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the Declaration of Bogot� on the Functioning and Application of the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (Declaration of Bogot�).
   
6. To request the Secretariat pro tempore of the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA to participate actively in the United Nations Conference to Review the Progress Made in the Implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, to be held in New York from June 26 to July 7, 2006.
   
7. To request the General Secretariat to continue its work with the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs (UNDDA), the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-LiREC) and its partners, and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), through the Inter-American Defense College, to prepare and offer specialized courses in the destruction of small arms, light weapons, and ammunition, and in stockpile management.
   
8. Also to request the General Secretariat to continue its work with the UNDDA and with UN-LiREC and its partners, to prepare and offer specialized courses to train instructors in special techniques for investigating the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms and ammunition, and, where appropriate, on national registries.
   
9. To invite the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA to continue reporting periodically to the Committee on Hemispheric Security of the Permanent Council on progress in the implementation of the Declaration of Bogot�, so that said Committee may take such information into account when preparing coordinated strategies and integrated action plans in connection with the new threats, concerns, and other challenges to hemispheric security.
   
10. To invite the states parties to the CIFTA to make voluntary contributions to the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA in order to support the activities established in that Committee's Work Program pursuant to the Declaration of Bogot�.
    
11. To request member states, permanent observers, and international, regional, and subregional organizations interested in the subject, as well as the international community, to consider the possibility of providing technical, financial, and educational assistance to support the implementation of measures to prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials.
    
12. To direct that the meetings of the Consultative Committee of the CIFTA, including those held for the purposes envisaged in operative paragraph 2 of this resolution, be held within the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources; and to request the General Secretariat to provide the necessary administrative and technical secretariat support for these purposes.
    
13. To request the Secretary General to present a report to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh regular session on the status of signatures and ratifications of the CIFTA.
    
14. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh regular session on the implementation of this resolution.