United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1540 marked a round birthday of 20 years on April 28, approaching its age of majority in a very different world to the one into which it was born two decades ago. Obligating all UN member states to implement measures preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), delivery systems, and related materials, particularly to non-state actors, its passage in 2004 was a historic achievement by an international community shaken by the 2001 terror attacks on the United States as well as the exposure of A.Q. Khan’s nuclear proliferation activities. It is hard to imagine such unified action today, amid the geopolitical tensions that consume so much valuable multilateral energy and resources. Yet while the international context has changed significantly since 2004, the need for Resolution 1540 has only grown, even while implementation challenges remain.
Plugging a gap in international law and reinforcing existing WMD non-proliferation and disarmament treaties such as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), the Biological and Toxin Weapons Treaty (BWC), and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the Resolution can claim a number of accomplishments. These achievements include the establishment of the 1540 Committee and its Group of Experts dedicated to supporting implementation of the resolution’s obligations; repeated extension of the mandate of those bodies; the institutionalization of a mechanism for states to report on their implementation of the resolution (the “1540 matrices”); and steady advances in implementation, as measured by the Committee at its periodic Comprehensive Reviews.
Yet that implementation progress has been slow. The final document of the latest Comprehensive Review completed in late 2022 indicated that since the last measurement in 2016, “overall, implementation increased globally by about 6 per cent,” to 56 per cent implementation. And this measurement simply notes how many data fields in the reporting matrix are filled in across all countries compared to the total number of data fields; it does not assess how comprehensive or effective the implementation measures that are reported in those fields are. Indeed, Resolution 1540’s legislative, financial, border control, and other obligations are complex. States that need technical assistance implementing these obligations find it difficult to obtain through the most obvious channel, the UN 1540 Committee’s assistance matching mechanism, despite concerted efforts to streamline the process. Several UN Security Council members who received the 1540 Committee Chair’s brief in late March, 2024, on member states’ efforts to implement the resolution acknowledged the persistent challenges with the resolution’s assistance matchmaking and stalled efforts to further revise it, while the Chair acknowledged that “full implementation of the resolution…remains a long-term task,” according to the UN’s unofficial summary.
While Resolution 1540’s requirements are significant, some have argued that it does not go far enough. A 2021 RUSI commentary, for example, points to the continued expansion of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and highlights the loopholes it exploits, such as lack of relevant regulations applicable to the non-financial intermediaries – lawyers, accountants, and other trained professionals – that assist with the trade and financing of dual-use goods. These individuals are able to avoid the wide range of military and financial restrictions that Resolution 1540 requires, and are able to assist malevolent actors in hiding their illicit trade and activities. The release this spring of the 2024 versions of the various components of the U.S. government’s annual “Compliance Report,” which assesses the adherence of the United States and other countries to WMD and other arms control and non-proliferation treaties and conventions to which the United States is a party, also underscores the varying and enduring WMD proliferation risks associated with a small but stubbornly consistent group of countries. Not least, the implications of rapid and converging technological advances for WMD proliferation and Resolution 1540 need to be assessed.
Expansions of Resolution 1540 are likely to remain highly aspirational amid current state-level geopolitical tensions, with apparently little hope even for more modest tweaks to the assistance mechanism that could help all states implement their obligations and ensure that Resolution 1540 does the job it is currently designed to do. In the meantime, civil society efforts and tools can fill some of the gap. The Stimson Center’s Assistance Support Initiative, generously funded by Global Affairs Canada, recently completed a significant update to its public database of assistance projects and programs available to help states build their capacity and implement Resolution 1540 more effectively. This database is now also featured on the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction website. As Resolution 1540 starts a new decade, let us hope that this and other practical initiatives at the state, multilateral, and non-governmental level will strengthen and expand its implementation around the globe well into the future.
UNSCR 1540 at 20 Years
By Christina McAllister • Annie Trentham
Nonproliferation
International consensus brought Resolution 1540 into the world to address WMD proliferation threats like A.Q. Khan. Two decades later, the world looks very different, and proliferation threats remain serious. What’s next for Resolution 1540?
United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1540 marked a round birthday of 20 years on April 28, approaching its age of majority in a very different world to the one into which it was born two decades ago. Obligating all UN member states to implement measures preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), delivery systems, and related materials, particularly to non-state actors, its passage in 2004 was a historic achievement by an international community shaken by the 2001 terror attacks on the United States as well as the exposure of A.Q. Khan’s nuclear proliferation activities. It is hard to imagine such unified action today, amid the geopolitical tensions that consume so much valuable multilateral energy and resources. Yet while the international context has changed significantly since 2004, the need for Resolution 1540 has only grown, even while implementation challenges remain.
Plugging a gap in international law and reinforcing existing WMD non-proliferation and disarmament treaties such as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), the Biological and Toxin Weapons Treaty (BWC), and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the Resolution can claim a number of accomplishments. These achievements include the establishment of the 1540 Committee and its Group of Experts dedicated to supporting implementation of the resolution’s obligations; repeated extension of the mandate of those bodies; the institutionalization of a mechanism for states to report on their implementation of the resolution (the “1540 matrices”); and steady advances in implementation, as measured by the Committee at its periodic Comprehensive Reviews.
Yet that implementation progress has been slow. The final document of the latest Comprehensive Review completed in late 2022 indicated that since the last measurement in 2016, “overall, implementation increased globally by about 6 per cent,” to 56 per cent implementation. And this measurement simply notes how many data fields in the reporting matrix are filled in across all countries compared to the total number of data fields; it does not assess how comprehensive or effective the implementation measures that are reported in those fields are. Indeed, Resolution 1540’s legislative, financial, border control, and other obligations are complex. States that need technical assistance implementing these obligations find it difficult to obtain through the most obvious channel, the UN 1540 Committee’s assistance matching mechanism, despite concerted efforts to streamline the process. Several UN Security Council members who received the 1540 Committee Chair’s brief in late March, 2024, on member states’ efforts to implement the resolution acknowledged the persistent challenges with the resolution’s assistance matchmaking and stalled efforts to further revise it, while the Chair acknowledged that “full implementation of the resolution…remains a long-term task,” according to the UN’s unofficial summary.
While Resolution 1540’s requirements are significant, some have argued that it does not go far enough. A 2021 RUSI commentary, for example, points to the continued expansion of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and highlights the loopholes it exploits, such as lack of relevant regulations applicable to the non-financial intermediaries – lawyers, accountants, and other trained professionals – that assist with the trade and financing of dual-use goods. These individuals are able to avoid the wide range of military and financial restrictions that Resolution 1540 requires, and are able to assist malevolent actors in hiding their illicit trade and activities. The release this spring of the 2024 versions of the various components of the U.S. government’s annual “Compliance Report,” which assesses the adherence of the United States and other countries to WMD and other arms control and non-proliferation treaties and conventions to which the United States is a party, also underscores the varying and enduring WMD proliferation risks associated with a small but stubbornly consistent group of countries. Not least, the implications of rapid and converging technological advances for WMD proliferation and Resolution 1540 need to be assessed.
Expansions of Resolution 1540 are likely to remain highly aspirational amid current state-level geopolitical tensions, with apparently little hope even for more modest tweaks to the assistance mechanism that could help all states implement their obligations and ensure that Resolution 1540 does the job it is currently designed to do. In the meantime, civil society efforts and tools can fill some of the gap. The Stimson Center’s Assistance Support Initiative, generously funded by Global Affairs Canada, recently completed a significant update to its public database of assistance projects and programs available to help states build their capacity and implement Resolution 1540 more effectively. This database is now also featured on the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction website. As Resolution 1540 starts a new decade, let us hope that this and other practical initiatives at the state, multilateral, and non-governmental level will strengthen and expand its implementation around the globe well into the future.
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