Co-chairs : Hungary Mr. Lazlo DEAK, Dept. for Security Policy and Arms Control, MFA
 Mali Mr. M. Mamadou Albachir MAHAMANE, Legal and Consular Affairs Directorate, MFA
Rapporteurs : Malaysia Mr. Mohamed Ali RAZALI, Policy Division, MoD
Slovakia Mme Maria KRASNOHORSKA, Ambassador, Dept. of the OSCE,
CoU and Disarmement,MFA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT

In accordance with the relevant decisions of the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on their Destruction, the Standing Committee of Experts on Stockpile Destruction (SCESD) held its first inter-sessional meeting on December 9-10, 1999 at the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian De-mining (GICHD). Some 80 experts, including representatives of States Parties, non-States Parties, international organizations and non-governmental organizations, coordinated by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), took part in the deliberations of the SCESD, and had an in-depth exchange of views and experiences on a wide range of issues falling under the auspices of the SCESD. Ms. Jody Williams, Ambassador to ICBL, also addressed the plenary meeting on the first day of deliberations. In the course of the two days of meetings, the SCESD conducted discussions in four sessions under the guidance of four moderators:
  1. Stockpile Destruction as Integral Part of Mine Action (Ret. Gen. Gordon M. Reay, MFA, Canada)
  2. Allocation of Resources - Technologies and Constraints (Patrick Blagden, GICHD)
  3. Case Studies (Col. Paul Power, Australian Defense Forces)
  4. The way ahead (Stephen Goose, Human Rights Watch, USA)
The SCESD considered, among other issues:
  • obligations and rights of countries under Article 4 of the Convention.
  • methods and technologies for destruction;
  • transparency, monitoring, verification;
  • technical and financial assistance: bilateral, regional or multinational options;
  • the role of the military and private sector in stockpile destruction;
  • logistical, technical and financial considerations;
  • possible alternatives to the current methods of stockpile destruction;
  • choosing the appropriate method with a view to the size, composition and age of the stockpiles to be destroyed;
  • merits and constraints of various methods of destruction as experienced by individual countries;
  • environmental considerations;
  • planning and implementation of the process leading up to the actual destruction of stockpiles;
  • stockpile maintenance programs, including stockpiles in non-State Parties;
  • possible mechanism for linking up donor and recipient countries;
  • funding of stockpile destruction projects;
  • compilation of a database of industrial/research capacities and capabilities;
  • possible mechanism for monitoring and evaluating Article 7 reports;
  • possible mechanism for engaging non-States Parties in reducing their stockpiles;
  • progress report on global stockpiles and their destruction.
Proposed action points put forward during the SCESD meeting will be reflected in the report of the co-rapporteurs to be submitted at a later date, and will remain on the agenda of the SCESD for its second meeting in May, furthermore, for future activities following the Second Meeting of the States Parties to be held in Geneva in September 2000. At the conclusion of its deliberations the SCESD confirmed that its second meeting will be held on May 22-23, 2000. It is envisaged that further conceptual and operational conclusions will be drawn at that meeting, as well, with a view to the progress report to be submitted to the Second Meeting of States Parties. Two informal preliminary consultations (possibly in February and April) to be held in Geneva prior to the second meeting of the SCESD will shape its program and define its agenda, as well as assess the implementation of the various proposals put forward at the first meeting of the SCESD.