States Recommit to Stemming Illicit Flow of Small Arms by Tackling New Tracing Challenges

Concluding its week-long session today, the Fifth Biennial Meeting of States on small arms and light weapons adopted by consensus an outcome document that highlighted the international community’s renewed commitment to preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade. The text, adopted as orally revised, covered several main areas, including implementation of the 2001 Programme of Action and international tracing instrument; global cooperation and assistance; and follow-up to the Second Review Conference in 2012, recommending steps for the way forward.