Annexure III

Operational Plan to implement the Andean community's coordinated agenda of action

Introduction

This Operational Plan, in keeping with the objectives set out in the Andean Plan to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its aspects and its Coordinated Agenda of Action adopted in June 2003, establishes the action to be taken by the Community to develop the technical and institutional capacity of our societies to cope comprehensively with the problem of small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, as well as to promote and facilitate cooperation and the exchange of information and experience within the sub region, in order to guarantee the growing and sustained commitment of the Andean Community Member Countries to the attainment of those objectives.

Operational Plan

Institutional Framework

The Member Countries agreed:
1. "To promote the joint search for sustainable solutions to the problem created by illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, through the sustained implementation of concerted and coordinated action in the medium and long terms."
2. "To set up and put into operation in each Member Country a National Coordinating Committee -National Focal Point- that will be responsible for designing and taking the necessary measures to confront that problem and ensure the full implementation of this Coordinated Agenda of Action at the national level."
  
  Execution:
  
  The Member Countries commit themselves to each establish a National Coordinating Committee -National Focal Point- within a period of four months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action.
  
  Each Member Country shall, accordingly and within a period of no more than three months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, hold a seminar/workshop or inter-institutional meetings to set up and strengthen the National Coordinating Committee -National Focal Point- on small arms and light weapons in all their aspects. That Committee shall have the following functions:
  1. To coordinate with the General Secretariat the implementation of the Coordinated Agenda of Action;
  2. To coordinate and work together with the other National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-;
  3. To coordinate and work jointly with civil society;
  4. To facilitate the exchange and dissemination of information;
  5. To conduct and facilitate the investigation of matters previously decided by the Committee;
  6. To identify and take advantage of the experience acquired;
  7. To enhance the capacity to address the problem of small arms and light weapons in a sustained way; and,
  8. All other functions deemed to be relevant.
3. "To instruct the responsible unit of the General Secretariat of the Andean Community, in accordance with the mandates established in the Lima Commitment, to coordinate the Coordinated Agenda of Action at the sub regional level."
  
  Execution:
  
  The General Secretariat of the Andean Community, particularly its responsible unit, shall act as the Technical Secretariat and have the following functions:
  1. To promote, in coordination with the Operating Committee, the implementation of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, including the annual programming of meetings and of joint endeavours;
  2. To coordinate and work jointly with the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-;
  3. To work with the pertinent regional and international organizations;
  4. To prepare an inventory of the existing lines of cooperation on the subject and to channel that information to the Member Countries through the Operating Committee and the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-;
  5. To support the coordination and joint efforts with civil society;
  6. To support the exchange and dissemination of information;
  7. To promote and facilitate research in keeping with the requirements of the Operating Committee;
  8. To identify and take advantage of the experience acquired; and
  9. To reinforce the capacity to comprehensively tackle the problem of small arms and light weapons in all its aspects.
Sub regional Cooperation and Coordination

The Member Countries agreed:
1. "To ensure the sustainability, in the medium and long terms, of their commitment to attain the objectives set out in the Andean Plan to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects, through the responsible unit of the General Secretariat."
  
  Execution:
  
  The Member Countries, with the assistance of the General Secretariat, shall hold an annual Ministerial Conference, preferably in the country exercising the chairmanship of the Andean Community, to evaluate the progress made in implementing the Andean Plan to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects and to draw up the guidelines for advancing its execution.
2. "To prepare, implement and support a comprehensive strategy to combat the illicit proliferation of and trafficking in small arms and light weapons, which should take into account the links between the illicit trade in and proliferation of those arms and weapons and security, terrorism, corruption and the worldwide drug problem, as well as the medium and long-term objective of attaining peace, stability and development in the sub region."
  
  Execution:
  
  The following activities, inter alia, will be carried out:
  1. The General Secretariat, with the assistance of the National Coordinating Committees - National Focal Points - will draw up annual plans to implement the Coordinated Agenda of Action.
  2. An annual forum for reflection on and discussion of weaknesses and strengths will be held with a view to implementing the Coordinated Agenda of Action. That forum will be held in each of the Member Countries in succession and will gather participants from the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-, the General Secretariat and other pertinent international organizations, together with experts and representatives of civil society.
  3. The Ministerial Conference cited under the implementation of number 2.1, will also evaluate the results of the Community strategy and prepare guidelines to continue furthering that strategy.
  4. Support will be given to public awareness research and education programs so that society as a whole can understand the links between the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and conflicts, as well as between the control of those arms and weapons and sub regional peace, stability and well-being.
  5. Support will be given to development projects at all levels that are capable of reducing the local demand for small arms and light weapons and providing the inhabitants of border regions with viable alternatives for progress.
3. "To promote cooperation and the exchange of information among the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-, the institutions responsible for ensuring compliance with and the full implementation of the law and of this Plan, and pertinent international organizations concerned with the issue, in order to coordinately address the problem of the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."
  
  Execution:
  
  To promote cooperation and the exchange of information by, among other things:
  1. Holding an annual seminar/workshop for persons serving on the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and the General Secretariat of the Andean Community, to promote joint endeavours and evaluate the common strategy prescribed in this Plan.
  2. Having the General Secretariat publish a Bi-annual Bulletin -which could even be a virtual bulletin- to serve as a vehicle for the exchange of information and ideas between the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-, the national authorities responsible for ensuring compliance with and the full implementation of this Andean Plan in the sub region, pertinent international organizations and civil society.
  3. Promoting personnel exchange programs between the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and other agencies and organizations, including those of civil society, with a view to exchanging information and experience.
  4. Actively expediting joint studies and the exchange of information between National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and academic centres, specialized institutes, research centres, the business sector, leaders and experts from local communities, and other sources of knowledge about the subject.
  5. Creating a mechanism for dialogue on the part of National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- with civil society, through which interested institutions, organizations and representatives of civil society may interact in order to enhance cooperation and the exchange of information.
4. "To cooperate with interested experts and representatives of civil society in preventing, combating and eradicating the problem of illicit proliferation of and trafficking in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."
  
  Execution:
  
  To foster cooperation by, among other things:
  1. Recommending to civil society the incorporation into the agendas of pertinent subregional meetings of issues relating to small arms and light weapons that would address the following aspects of security, inter alia: socioeconomic development, governance and corruption, political instability and terrorism, conflict resolution, the struggle against organized crime, the war on the world drug problem; and refugees and migrations, etc.
  2. Fostering the exchange of acquired information and experience between experts, representatives of civil society and other sub regional institutions concerned with the subject.
  3. Supporting initiatives of the business sector, local communities and other actors involved that are aimed at slowing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and minimizing their effects on society.
  4. Holding an annual consultative meeting of the General Secretariat with experts, representatives of civil society, the business sector and local communities to exchange experience with issues and activities related to the problem of small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, in order to prepare for the Ministerial Conference that will evaluate the subject.
5. "To promote the joint search for international support to implement the Coordinated Agenda of Action."
  
  Execution:
  
  The General Secretariat of the Andean Community will take the necessary steps with friendly countries and cooperating international organizations to secure the required technical and financial resources for developing the institutional framework and implementing the Coordinated Agenda of Action, in keeping with the guidelines established in Annex IV to this Operational Plan.
  
  Member Countries will, as their means permit, contribute to the funding of the activities of their National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and build up the institutional budget of the General Secretariat of the Andean Community as pertinent.
Legislative Measures

The Member Countries agreed:
1. "To recommend the incorporation into domestic legislation, when necessary and as a priority, of regulatory provisions on the following matters:
  1. Possession, concealment, usurpation, carrying and use of small arms and light weapons.
  2. Manufacture, import, export, transfer, sale, brokerage, transport, marking, registration and control of small arms and light weapons.
  3. Effective control of manufacturers, sellers, brokers, financiers and transporters of small arms and light weapons.
  4. Seizure and confiscation by the State of all small arms and light weapons that are manufactured, transported or in transit without or in violation of the corresponding licenses, permits or written authorizations, as well as the application of the sanctions provided for in domestic law.
  5. Asset laundering connected with illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."
2. "To establish as criminal offenses under their domestic law, the illicit manufacture, import, export, transfer, sale, brokerage, transport, possession, concealment, usurpation, carrying and use of small arms and light weapons, including ones that are homemade."
3. "To promote the harmonizing of legislation and the establishment of minimum standards to regulate the illicit manufacture, import, export, transfer, sale, brokerage, transport, possession, concealment, usurpation, carrying and use of small arms and light weapons."
4. "To expedite the adoption of legislative or other measures needed to combat crimes relating to terrorism, the worldwide drug problem and corruption that are linked to illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."
Execution:
1. The Member Countries commit themselves to send the General Secretariat, within a maximum period of one month after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, copies of national legislation that is in force with regard to the illicit manufacture, import, export, transfer, sale, brokerage, transport, possession, concealment, usurpation, carrying and use of small arms and light weapons in all their aspects.
2. The General Secretariat will, within a maximum period of three months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, conduct a comparative study of the cited national legislation and draw up a proposal to establish minimum subregional standards.
3. The General Secretariat, in collaboration with the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and within a maximum of six months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, will hold a sub regional seminar/workshop to establish the minimum standards required by national legislation and design a program to review the legislation and monitor advances and deadlines for taking the steps provided for in numbers 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 of the Coordinated Agenda of Action. This seminar/workshop is also intended to evaluate the establishment of a sub regional mechanism to control the problem of small arms and light weapons as well as a program to combat corruption, within a maximum period of nine months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action. The conclusions and recommendations of the seminar/workshop should be submitted for the consideration of the Ministerial Conference.
4. The Member Countries also commit themselves, within a maximum period of sixteen months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, to review their pertinent national legislation in order to verify the incorporation into those laws of all of the provisions recommended in numbers 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 of the cited Agenda, bearing in mind the minimum standards established pursuant to number 3.1, in accordance with the legal and constitutional mechanisms in force in each country.
Operational and Institutional Strengthening Measures

The Member Countries agreed:
1. "To recommend the design and implementation of a National Plan on the subject by each National Coordinating Committee -National Focal Point-."
  
  Execution:
  
  If they deem it necessary, Member Countries will design and implement a national plan on the subject through their National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and will request technical and financial assistance from the international community for that purpose.
2. "To set up or develop national databases and communications systems, including specialized equipment, to monitor and control the illicit manufacture, import, export, transfer, sale, brokerage, transport, possession, concealment, usurpation, carrying and use of small arms and light weapons in the national territory and across borders, in keeping with the Operational Plan for Implementing this Agenda."
3. "To carry out or improve national training programs to build up the institutions that are responsible for ensuring compliance with and the full implementation of this Coordinated Agenda for Action."
4. "If deemed necessary, to form specialized working groups made up of national authorities responsible for ensuring compliance with and the full application of this Coordinated Agenda of Action."
  
  Execution:
  
  Within a maximum period of four months after its establishment, each National Coordinating Committee -National Focal Point- will hold three inter-institutional meetings to identify training requirements and possible programs on the subject; set up the national database; and reinforce or develop the communications systems.
  
  Each National Coordinating Committee -National Focal Point- will have a database that will contain, but not be limited to, information about: the illicit manufacture, import, export, transfer, sale, brokerage, transport, possession, concealment, usurpation, carrying and use of in all their aspects; also about the small arms and light weapons that have been stolen, lost, seized and recovered, as well as those destroyed and planned for destruction. Each National Coordinating Committee -National Focal Point- will inform the General Secretariat about the actions it plans to undertake in order to start up its training programs and put its national database into place.
5. "To reinforce the capacity of the General Secretariat of the Andean Community to coordinate the implementation of the Coordinated Agenda of Action through its responsible unit."
6. "To support and promote exchange and training programs between the General Secretariat, the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and community leaders or representatives of civil society to enhance their capacity and ensure the existence of a constructive dialogue that will lead to concrete action."
7. "To contribute to the effective utilization of the accumulated knowledge and experience, including those of civil society, to tackle the problem of illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects.
  
  Execution:
  
  For these purposes, the Member Countries commit themselves to:
  1. Hold an annual sub regional seminar/workshop to reinforce the capacity of all actors involved in implementing the Coordinated Agenda of Action, in order to exchange ideas and review the chosen methodologies. These seminars/workshops will be held in each Member Country in succession and will bring together participants from the National Focal Points -National Coordinating Committees- and the General Secretariat.
  2. Effectively put to use the knowledge and experience acquired in building up the capacity of the National Focal Points -National Coordinating Committee- and of the General Secretariat.
8. "To encourage sub regional cooperation among national institutions responsible for compliance with and the full implementation of this Coordinated Agenda of Action, as well as with other pertinent international agencies and institutions, in order to combat transnational crime, increase security and promote mutual understanding among communities living in national border regions. Such cooperation could include, among others, reinforcing confidence-building measures in the Andean sub region."
  
  Execution:
  
  The General Secretariat, in coordination with the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and within a maximum period of six months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, will hold a sub regional seminar/workshop to identify:
  1. Training requirements in the sub region, which could lead to offering training courses in the priority spheres of action for national officials responsible of ensuring compliance with and the full implementation of this Andean Plan and other pertinent international organizations.
  2. Border regions where national and international institutions operate, in order to promote cooperation and the coordination of efforts to improve security.
  National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- will implement the agreements reached at the seminar/workshop, with the support of the General Secretariat.
9. "To foster the development of a sub regional research capacity to back up the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- by launching medium and long-term research programs on the subject."
  
  Execution:
  
  In this context, the Member Countries commit themselves to:
  1. Promote and further long-term research programs on the dynamics of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and its effect on security.
  2. Foster cooperation in the area of research among the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-, experts, the academic sector, specialized institutes, research centres as well as other specialists in the sub region, including the business sector and the community in general.
Control, Confiscation, Sanctioning, Distribution, Collection and Destruction

The Member Countries agreed:
1. "To strengthen the capacity of competent national institutions to control and report the quantity of arms and weapons in the hands of the State, by, among other things, verifying and updating their registries and/or inventories of small arms and light weapons."
2. "To ensure the strict rendering of accounts by the competent national agency and the effective follow-up of all distributed arms and weapons that belong to the State."
3. "To guarantee the safe storage of arms in the possession of the State."
4. "To establish an effective mechanism for stockpiling illicit small arms and light weapons that have been confiscated or recovered by the State, while awaiting the result of investigations that will release them to be destroyed or, if deemed pertinent, to be transferred to the State."
5. "To identify and destroy surplus or obsolete inventories of small arms and light weapons in the possession of the State."
  
  Execution:
  
  The General Secretariat, in coordination with the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- , will organize, within a maximum period of nine months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, a meeting of public and private experts to define the policy guidelines for guaranteeing effective control, oversight, safe stockpiling and responsible destruction or elimination of small arms or light weapons belonging to or in the possession of the State. Guidelines and procedures should also be established to ensure that surplus inventories of those arms and weapons are safely stored, destroyed or eliminated in a responsible way.
  
  Member Countries will, in keeping with the agreements reached at the cited meeting, set up a verification mechanism to ensure full compliance with those guidelines.
  
  The National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and the General Secretariat should coordinate with the competent national officials, the implementation of capacity-building programs, the hiring of experts and the joint search for international cooperation with which to accomplish the above cited objectives.
6. "To guarantee and keep up to date the registry of importers, sellers, brokers and manufacturers of small arms and light weapons that will make it possible to oversee those agents and their commercial operations in the sub region, as well as the private security, mining and other companies that need small arms and light weapons for their normal operations, and private individuals."
7. "To guarantee the strict rendering of accounts to the competent national agency and the effective control of all arms and weapons owned, carried and held by manufacturers, importers, sellers, brokers, and users, including private security, mining and other companies that need small arms and light weapons for their normal operations, and private individuals."
8. "To encourage a joint effort between the institutions that are responsible for ensuring compliance with and the full implementation of this Coordinated Agenda of Action and local communities to identify and eradicate illegal stockpiles of arms and weapons."
9. "To promote programs for the voluntary surrender and collection of arms and weapons."
10. "To ensure the destruction of illicit arms and weapons that have been collected or seized or, if deemed pertinent, their transfer to the State."
11. "To promote programs to legalize small arms and light weapons, with a view to increasing and updating national databases."
  
  Execution:
  
  The General Secretariat, in coordination with the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-, will convene, within a maximum period of nine months after the signing of the Coordinated Agenda of Action, a meeting of officials who are competent on the subject to identify and implement viable alternatives for ensuring the strict rendering of accounts to the competent national agency and effective control over all arms and weapons belonging to, carried by and in the possession of manufacturers, importers, sellers, brokers, and users, individuals and legal entities through, inter alia, the registration and/or inventorying, collection, safe storage, destruction or responsible elimination of small arms and light weapons.
  
  In keeping with the agreement reached at the cited meeting, the Member Countries will establish a verification mechanism to ensure full compliance with those guidelines.
  
  The Member Countries should guarantee the destruction or transfer to the State of small arms and light weapons that have been seized or confiscated. They should also make certain that national authorities responsible for ensuring compliance with and the full implementation of this Andean Plan work with local communities to facilitate the removal and destruction of small arms and light weapons that have been voluntarily surrendered and the detection of illegal stockpiles of such arms and weapons.
  
  The National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and the General Secretariat should coordinate with the competent national officials in carrying out capacity-building programs, hiring experts and jointly searching out international cooperation in order to contribute to the collection, confiscation, seizure and destruction or transfer to the State of illicit small arms and light weapons.
Exchange, Filing and Updating of Information

The Member Countries agreed:
1. "To disseminate the policies, regulations and legislation dealing with small arms and light weapons in all their aspects."
2. "To promote the exchange of information between the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and the responsible unit in the General Secretariat as well as the uniformity of national databases."
  
  Execution:
  
  The National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- should ensure that the pertinent policies, legislation and regulations are made known and accessible to the public; to this end, they will, in turn, send a copy of them to the General Secretariat. The latter, for its part, will publish and disseminate a sub regional compendium of those policies, legislation and regulations.
  
  The National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- will be responsible for controlling access to the information in the national databases. They will, accordingly, establish a sub regional mechanism to guarantee the exchange, updating and transmission of information between the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points-, the General Secretariat and the representative of civil society, as applicable.
3. "If deemed necessary, to foster the exchange of information between the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- and the national institutions responsible for ensuring compliance with and the full enforcement of laws on, inter alia, individuals, criminal organizations and their members, types of small arms and light weapons, sources, distribution routes, destinations, means of transport, and the financial support of those organizations or individuals. The exchange of information could also focus on criminal activities like terrorism and drug trafficking related with the cited arms and weapons."
  
  Execution:
  
  The General Secretariat, in coordination with the National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- that deem it necessary, will hold a sub regional seminar/workshop to decide upon mechanisms for exchanging confidential information about, inter alia, individuals, criminal organizations and their members, types of small arms and light weapons, sources, distribution routes, destinations, means of transport, and the financial assistance of those organizations or individuals and the dissemination of that information. The seminar/workshop may also be aimed at designing and proposing a system to report information about criminal activities, particularly those relating to terrorism and drug trafficking related with the small arms and light weapons in question.
Public Awareness

The Member Countries agreed:
1. "To encourage the development of a culture of peace."
2. "To design and implement citizen education and public awareness programs encompassing all sectors of society that deal with the problem of illicit small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."
3. "To design and implement citizen education and public awareness programs about the responsible handling, storage and use of firearms."
4. "To foster the inclusion of, as well as cooperation with, all sectors of society, including the business sector, to prevent and eradicate the problem of illicit small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."
  
  Execution:
  
  The Member Counties commit themselves to promote national education programs to reduce the demand of society for arms and weapons, contribute to their responsible handling and condemn violence. Those programs should include, but not be limited to, the launching of public awareness campaigns through the audiovisual and written communications media.
  
  Member Countries should accord priority to supporting local government and non-government public awareness programs that share the same purposes and involve the private sector in national and sub regional education activities and programs to prevent and reject the crime and corruption associated with this problem.
  
  The National Coordinating Committees -National Focal Points- will hold an annual national consultative forum involving all sectors of society through a free and open debate about the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and its effects on society, as well as the need to combat terrorism, corruption and the worldwide drug problem and the offenses connected with this problem.