Conclusions from the workshop on Disposal of Weapons and Ammunition Surpluses
05/05/2010
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At the 51st session of the Joint Committee for Defence and Security of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly held on 04th May 2010 the Committee adopted conclusions from the workshop on the topic: ''Status in implementation of BiH Presidency decision on disposal of AFBIH weapons and ammunition surpluses’’ which was held in Mostar on 28 and 29 April 2010.
The workshop was organized by UNDP's Small Arms Control project and Joint Committee for Defence and Security of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly with aiming to present current status and implementation of the BiH Presidency decision on issues in the field of light weapons and ammunition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The members of the Joint Committee had the opportunity to exchange experiences in the field of small arms and light weapons with other representatives of BiH institutions and the international community.
Through discussions, participants stressed that they fully support the activities of the commercial companies and BiH Armed Forces that are engaged in the process of demilitarization and at the same time, participants, insisted on the use of all available capacities that would be used for destruction of all recorded surpluses. With those activities it was estimated that the process of demilitarization would be completed latest by the end of 2013.
The workshop resulted in a number of conclusions which inter alia highlight that the competent institutions are expected to immediately start the implementation of the Decision of the BiH Presidency on the principles of resolving surplus weapons, ammunition and explosive ordnance in the BiH Armed Forces. Furthermore the participants had a series of requirements addressed to the Ministry of Defence, such as:
(i) the Ministry of Defence will once per month inform the Joint Committee for Defence and Security on the results of Working Group and Ministry of Defence’s Project Steering Committee, that are related to the implementation of the recommendations approved by the Ministry of Defence and two Deputy Ministers of Defence from 19 March 2010;
(ii) in an expedited procedure approaches the destruction of ammunition in the quantity of 3100 tonnes;
(iii) the Ministry of Defense will submit to the Joint Committee for Defence and Security Information on the implementation of the Interim Guidelines for the destruction of ammunition, based on Agreement and Small Arms Control Project for the period 2005 – 2011;
(iv) the Ministry of Defense will inform the Joint Committee for Defence and Security on the current status of the implementation of the Article 9 of the Agreement on the Final Disposal of All Rights and Obligations Regarding Movable Property.
Workshop participants are fully supporting the Ministry of Defence in fulfilling the obligations of BiH for NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP). They expect from the representatives of international community further support and coordinated activities with BiH institutions in the implementation of conclusions from the previous workshops held in Medjugorje, Bijeljina and Zenica.
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