STATES PARTIES TO PROTOCOL ON PROHIBITION OF MINES CONCLUDE NINTH CONFERENCE

The Ninth Annual Conference of the States parties to the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices (Amended Protocol II), annexed to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW), concluded on 6 November 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The Conference, presided by Ambassador Jürg Streuli of Switzerland in his capacity as one of the three Vice-Presidents, reiterated the importance of its universal adherence. An appeal to promote wider adherence to the Protocol was issued. Eighty-eight countries to date have expressed their consent to be bound by the Protocol, three of which have newly joined since last year’s Conference.

The States parties reviewed the operation and status of the Protocol and considered the issue of the nine-year deferral period for complying with the detectability and self-destruct requirements for anti-personnel mines, the deadline of which falls on 3 December 2007. Six countries have declared to make use of this right at the time of acceding to the Protocol. The Conference called upon these States to formally withdraw their declarations and to inform the States parties on the measures they have taken to comply with the above provisions. The States parties also decided to remain seized of this matter.

The States parties considered matters arising from the 46 national annual reports containing information on the implementation of the Protocol by States. The States parties agreed that the reports will be posted on the official CCW website and would no longer be reproduced as official documents of the Conference.

At the end of the Conference, the States parties adopted the Final Document, containing the substantive decisions as well as the provisional agenda for next year’s annual conference and the presiding officers for that conference. The Conference designated Ambassador Streuli of Switzerland to preside over the Tenth Annual Conference, which will take place next year. Three Vice-Presidents representing China, Russian Federation and South Africa were also designated to assist him.

Protocol II was amended on 3 May 1996 at the First Review Conference of the States Parties to the CCW. The number of States that have notified the Depository of their consent to be bound by Amended Protocol II rose from 45 at the time of the First Annual Conference in 1999 to the current number of 88. For more information on the Conference and on the Protocol or the Convention, official website of the CCW within the website of the United Nations Organization at Geneva can be consulted at the following address: http://www.unog.ch/disarmament/.


For use of the information media; not an official record

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