The Berlin Conference on Stockpile Destruction was off to a positive start yesterday, Thursday 25 June 2009. 87 of the 98 signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions were present, including nearly all signatories with stockpiles of cluster munitions, along with representatives of 13 companies involved in stockpile destruction, and civil society representatives from 21 organizations. Azerbaijan, which has not yet signed the Convention but participated in the Oslo Process and has stockpiles of cluster munitions was also present.

The Conference began with bold, inspiring remarks from Amb. Peter Gottwald, Federal Government Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control (Germany), Minster of State Gernot Erler (Germany), State Secretary Epsen Barth Eide (Norway), and Hans Raidel, Member of the German Bundestag.

Minister of State Erler announced that Germany had finished its ratification process and would be depositing its instrument of ratification with the UN Secretary General in the next days.  He reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to the universalization of the Convention and its timely implementation. A late start would endanger the goal of the Convention, so the object of the Berlin Conference was to ensure stockpile destruction would begin as early as possible, even before the Convention’s entry into force. Mr. Erler concluded by announcing that Germany will make 2 million Euros available this year for clearance of cluster munitions and assistance to cluster munitions victims. 

State Secretary Eide of Norway similarly stated Norway’s continuing support for the Convention, while emphasizing the importance of international cooperation and assistance, along with the strong involvement of civil society in the process. Mr. Eide confirmed Norway’s progress in stockpile destruction to date and stated Norway hoped to have completed the process by 2010. Mr. Eide announced Norway’s decision not to retain any cluster munitions for training or research purposes after weighing arguments in favor and against, and urged all present to take the same decision. Mr. Raidel pledged the continuing support of parliamentarians in  securing ratifications from countries who had not signed and towards effective implementation, emphasizing the role of the Ban Advocates and CMC as the interlocutors of the process.

Introductory presentations were given by  Sara Sekkennes (UNDP) on UNDP’s role in stockpile destruction; Chris Clark (UNMAS) on the implementation of Article 3 in practice; Mark Hiznay (HRW) on Global Overview of Stockpiles and the Banning Cluster Munitions Report; Thomas Nash (CMC) on civil society’s efforts; Dominique Loye (ICRC) on the provisions of Art 3; and Kerry Brinkert (MBT ISU) on lessons learned from the Mine Ban Treaty. 

Conference included sessions on the technical aspects of stockpile destruction, with presentations from Germany (film on destruction); Ian Mansfield of GICHD; Peter Courtney-Green of NAMSA; Colin King; and Emerson Forigua Rojas (Colombia); and national planning, reporting, and international cooperation; with presentations by Thomas Frisch (Germany) on Germany’s National Stockpile Destruction Program; John MacBride (Canada) on International Cooperation and Assistance; and Matias Underraga Abbot (Chile) on Transparency and National Reporting.

For the CMC, Kennedy Mabasa delivered an intervention on stockpile destruction and Mina Zunac gave an intervention on national planning, reporting and international cooperation.

During a CMC lunch time briefing on ratification of the CCM, Austria gave an update on its international demarche to encourage signature and ratification and to raise the possibility of using Austria’s national legislation as a model. Croatia stated that its ratification legislation was approved and would race Germany to see who could be first to deposit. Burundi announced that its ratification legislation had been adopted in the Minister Council on 10 June and would be sent for approval by the Parliament. The Philippines noted that ratification of treaties involved a lengthy constitutional process but nevertheless, the government was already closely adhering to the provisions of the CCM and the MBT.  CMC campaigners provided updates on news that Slovenia’s ratification document was introduced in parliament yesterday; that in Japan the bill of national registration was approved by the Economic and Industry Committee of the House of Representatives and would go to the House of Representatives next month; and that Luxembourg also had approved its ratification and expected to deposit in days. 

Several other countries made statements on their progress towards ratification or stockpile destruction during the Conference. Japan confirmed its progress towards ratification and stated that it expected to deposit in early July. Japan also raised concerns about producers of cluster munitions retaining intellectual property rights that could hinder the development of cluster munition destruction techniques. 

Italy stated that it was engaged in steps aiming at an early ratification and that in April the Italian Senate approved a motion to engage the government more strictly in supporting the ratification of the CCM and its implementation, including mine action and victim assistance. Italy stated that it had already planned all steps necessary to process its stockpile destruction in a safe and environmentally sensitive manner and was planning to start soon. Italy added that it had pledged 3 million euro to clearance of cluster munitions in Lebanon, carried out by Italian peacekeepers.

Germany gave what it called an “oral Article 7 report” on the types and quantities of cluster munitions in its stockpiles and its national plan for destruction of its 50 million submunitions. Destruction will be finalized in 2015, depending on industrial and budgetary factors, Germany said. 

Austria announced that its stockpile destruction would be completed in 2010, and that tendering had been launched. Austria announced that likeNorway, it would not retain any cluster munitions for training or research purposes. Colombia also announced that it would not retain cluster munitions for training or research and will need assistance to complete its stockpile destruction.

Montenegro informed the conference that its Ministry of Defence has a draft law on cluster munitions prepared and has passed it on to other institutions for agreement to send it forward to the government for acceptance, and then later for ratification in Parliament. Montenegro expects that the process will be finalized by fall of this year but is already working on planning the destruction of its 535 stockpiled cluster munitions, in conjunction with a US funded program on the destruction of surplus ammunition, which it hopes to be finalized in 2010.

Moldova emphasized its wish to be amongst the first countries to report on the full completion of its stockpile destruction with appropriate assistance. Moldova said that it had determined it lacked the capacity nationally to safely conduct stockpile destruction and had approached the OSCE mission in Moldova for assistance. While it had destroyed part of its stockpiles of rocket delivered cluster munitions, Moldova stated that it would require assistance for the destruction of air-craft delivered cluster munitions, as it had determined destruction outside of the country would be the safest method. The Ministry of Defence and OSCE are currently drafting a project proposal.

Zambia referred to reports coming from a general survey had revealed cluster munition contamination in two of its northern provinces and stated that developing countries, particularly in Africa will need technical and financial support and called on States in a position to do so to provide support. Zambia stated it had reached “advanced levels” in its ratification process and would soon be depositing its ratification instrument with the UN Secretary General. 

Switzerland made a statement about its past experiences with destroying cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines, while Laos noted its concerns about clearance of existing cluster munitions, and Uganda gave an update on progress in clearance and the destruction of two types of cluster munitions and UXO. Uganda clarified that it no longer stockpiles cluster munitions.