UNODA-OSCE Project “Support of Regional Implementation of UNSCR 1540”: Peer-Review Meeting in Tajikistan

Representatives of relevant ministries and state agencies of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan responsible for implementing provisions of UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1540 (2004) on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, met at a peer-review meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from 2 to 4 August 2017, to share experiences and discuss progress in their work. This peer review meeting served as a follow-up to the previous rounds held in August 2016 in Minsk, Belarus and in December 2014 in Bishkek. The meeting was hosted by the Government of Tajikistan and supported by the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRPCD), and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The discussion focused on the national approaches to the implementation of the operative paragraphs of UNSCR 1540 including at the policy level and regarding legislative developments, enforcement procedures and effective practices, in line with resolution 1540 (2004) NAPs and strategies. As a matter of priority for their States, the delegations considered export-control legislation including control lists, licensing system and identification of dual use goods. Further focus included biological and chemical security issues, inter alia possible ways to improve national legislation and regulatory frameworks. The parties will also continue sharing experience and effective practices on border control, including visiting one of the border crossing points.

The Trilateral Peer Review aimed at developing practical recommendations and drafting documents on normative, legislative and practical and technical elements of the resolution 1540 (2004), in support of the implementation and further development of NAPs of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In particular, the parties have shared relevant legislative and regulatory framework documents with each other, developed a number of recommendations on further strengthening relevant enforcement measures and border controls related to WMD and related materials. A number of new measures related primarily to improvement of legislation in export control and biological security field have been launched by all three states. Also, Kyrgyzstan has been updating its NAP and Belarus decided to update its NAP following the peer review.

UNRCPD and the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre are organizing this three-day event in co-operation with the UN Security Council 1540 Committee and its Group of Experts in the framework of the joint UNODA-OSCE project on “Facilitating the Regional Implementation of UNSC resolution 1540 (2004)”.