Stockpile Destruction

MONDAY 27 MAY

1. Opening of the meeting

The meeting was opened by its Co-Chairs, Ingerid Solheim Salvesen of Norway and Kayode Laro of Nigeria. In opening the meeting, the Co-Chairs indicated that they had invited all States Parties in the process of destroying stockpiled mines to provide updates on plans to ensure compliance, progress made since the 12MSP, and expected completion dates.

2. Updates by States Parties on the status of implementation of article 4

The following three States Parties which, as of the 12MSP, were in the process of complying with their Article 4 stockpile destruction obligations, provided updates on their efforts to comply with Article 4: Belarus, Greece, Ukraine and Finland. The following delegations commented or asked questions with respect to various updates: the ICRC, the ICBL and the UN Mine Action Team.

DOWNLOAD STATEMENTS

3. The destruction of previously unknown stockpiles

The Co-Chairs recalled that in Action #12 of the Cartagena Article 7, take advantage of other informal means Action Plan, it was agreed that “all States Parties will, when previously unknown stockpiles are discovered after stockpile destruction deadlines have passed, report such discoveries in accordance with their obligations under to share such information and destroy these mines as a matter of urgent priority.” The following State Party provided an update on this matter: South Sudan.

DOWNLOAD STATEMENTS

4. Updates on other developments and initiatives in support of the stockpile destruction aspects of the Cartagena Action Plan

The Co-Chairs provided an opportunity for updates on other developments and initiatives in support of the stockpile destruction aspects of the Cartagena Action Plan. The following delegation took the floor on this matter: UN Mine Action Team.

5. Closing remarks by the Co-Chairs

The Co-Chairs closed the meeting by noting that the little amount of time required by this Standing Committee is not indicative of the complexity of the issues that the States Parties still face in achieving full implementation of Article 4. The Co-Chairs indicated that they will continue efforts between leading to the 13MSP to further promote implementation of Article 4 and that they will continue working with all interested actors.