The Latin American Arms Trade Treaty

States Party: Brazil, China, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, India, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Venezuela

International Regimes: International Atomic Energy Agency, Interpol, Organization of American States, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Missile Technology Control Regime, United Nations Office on Disarmament Affairs, Wassenaar group, Conference on Disarmament

Preamble

The States Parties to this Treaty,

Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Reaffirming the Resolution of UN Charter Article 2(1)-(4);

Recognizing the Resolution of UN Charter Article 26 and 103;

Adhering to Article 15 (1)-(4), (7) Arms Trade Treaty (ATT);

Recalling the General Assembly’s Sustainable Development Goal 16.4, which states that by 2030, there will be a significant reduction in illicit financial and arms flows, a strengthening in the recovery and return of stolen assets, and a desire to combat all forms of organized crime;

Emphasizing Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of personhood;

Reasserting Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; which states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security;

Acknowledging that peace and security, development and human rights are pillars of the United Nations system and foundations for collective security;

Bearing in mind that these arms continue to be globally destructive and disruptive forces that impede human development and promote unrest;

Recognizing the security, social, economic and humanitarian consequences of the illicit and unregulated trade in conventional arms;

Recognizing the legitimate political, security, economic and commercial interests of Member States in the international trade in conventional arms;

Noting the applicability of relevant multilateral agreements, including the Treaty of Tlatelolco, CWC and BWC;

Emphasizing the inherent value of the IAEA, OPCW, and the Wassenaar Group, and recognizing their distinguished integrity among the international community;

Emphasizing that this treaty shall not obstruct international cooperation and trade of other materials, equipment, and resources for peaceful purposes, as authorized by established technology denial regimes including, but not limited to: the Australia Group, the Wassenaar Group, the Zangger Committee, and the MTCR;

Noting the voluntary and active role that civil society, including non-governmental organizations, and industry, can play in raising awareness of the object and purpose of this Treaty, and in supporting its implementation;

Recognizing that nothing in this Treaty prevents individual and sovereign States from promoting supplementary measures to the objective of this treaty;

Understanding that small arms and light weapons are responsible for the majority of direct conflict deaths in Latin America;

Underlining the need to limit and regulate the trade of illicit weapons in Latin American states to prevent their diversion to the illicit market for unauthorized end use and end users, including in the commission of criminal acts;

Agreeing to address the illicit arms trade in Latin America, as well as organized crime violence and the illegal drug market;

Underlining the desirability of achieving universal adherence to this Treaty,

Resolved to act in accordance with the following principles;

Principles

In order to ensure all Member states the rights and benefits resulting from membership, we remain mindful of their obligations in accordance with Article 2(2) of the Charter of the United Nations;

The settlement of international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace, security and justice, are not endangered and the principle of non-intervention shall not be abridged.

Acting in accordance with international humanitarian law, inter alia, the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Respecting the legitimate interests of States to acquire conventional arms to exercise their right to self-defense and for peacekeeping operations; and to produce, export, import and transfer conventional arms;

Prioritizing social and economic justice over the destructive consequences of armed conflict;

Recognizing the detrimental legacy of colonialism in Latin America and the world over;

Implementing this Treaty in a consistent, objective and non-discriminatory manner;

In accordance with their respective international obligations, it is the responsibility of all states to effectively regulate the international trade in conventional arms, and to prevent their diversion, as well as the primary responsibility of all states in establishing and implementing their respective national control systems;

Have agreed as follows:

Articles

Article 1:

Objective and Purpose:
The object of this Treaty is to:

1. Establish the highest possible common international standards for regulating or improving the regulation of the international trade in conventional arms;
2. Eliminate the illegal trade of small arms and light weapons;
3. Establish a verification regime through the Latin American Arms Trade Treaty Organization which will implement methods of surveillance of both legal and illegal small arms trade in Latin America;

For the Purpose of:

1. Promoting regional peace and security;
2. Increasing transparency and cooperation between Member States;
3. Reducing gun related violence in the region;
4. Advancing regional stability and paving the way for reducing violence in Latin American States

Article 2:

Geographic Scope:

1. This Treaty shall be open indefinitely for signature by:
   1. All of the Latin American States listed herein;
   2. Including all States who may become sovereign, after they have been admitted by the General Conference;
   3. Applies to all coastal state territorial possessions 12 nautical miles off the shore;  

The scope of the treaty shall apply to the following states following ratification and enacted within their respective jurisdictions and any other states who participate as signatories;

1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Belize
4. Bolivia
5. The Caribbean Islands
6. Chile
7. Colombia
8. Costa Rica
9. Ecuador
10. El Salvador
11. French Guiana
12. Guatemala
13. Guyana
14. Honduras
15. Mexico
16. Nicaragua
17. Panama
18. Paraguay
19. Peru
20. Suriname
21. Uruguay
22. Venezuela

Article 3:

Each Member State shall take appropriate measures to enforce regulations and to implement the provisions herein:

Article 4:

Scope of Armaments:

1. This treaty shall apply to all arms within the following categories:
   1. Small Arms and Light Weapons; (as defined in Annex A)
   2. Conventional Weapons; (as defined in Annex A)
   3. Chemical Agents; (as defined in Annex B)
   4. Biological Agents; (as defined in Annex B)
   5. Missiles; (as defined in Annex B)
   6. Weapons of Mass Destruction; (as defined in Annex B)
2. For the purposes of this Treaty, the activities of the international trade compromise export, import, transit, trans-shipment and brokering, hereafter referred to as “transfer”.

Article 5:

Parts and Components:

1. Each State Party needs to allow for the production and selling their own weapons with the full awareness of knowing in what purposes they are going to be used, whether there is a place these weapons can be stored and who is going to use them;
2. Each Member State must ensure the fulfillment of its provisions through verification and compliance, as well as providing a council to ensure peaceful communication between parties;
3. Each State Party shall not obstruct international cooperation and trade of other materials equipment, and resources for peaceful purposes;
4. Each State Party should be encouraged to ease the international tensions and strengthen the transparency between states in order to facilitate the control of trading Small Arms and Light Weapons, including the elimination of grey market loopholes which will be enforced by tracking and mechanisms to prosecute State Parties with financial sanctions and imprisonment for individuals

Article 6:

Reporting:

1. Each State Party shall, within the first six months after entry into force of this Treaty provide an initial report to the Director of Measures including but not limited to; the transfer and production of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Chemical Agents, Biological Agents, Conventional Weapons, Missiles, and Weapons of Mass Destruction;
2. Each State Party shall report to the Director of Measures on any new measures undertaken in order to implement this Treaty, when appropriate. Change reports shall be made available, and distributed to State Parties by the Director of Measures within six months of the reporting being finalized;
3. Each State Party shall submit annually to the Director of Measures by January 31st a report for the preceding calendar year concerning authorized or actual exports and imports of conventional arms. These reports must include all imports and exports of arms to ensure complete transparency. After these reports are made available to the Director of Measures, they will be distributed to all State Parties, and International Arms Control Regimes, by the Director of Measures;
4. Reports to Interpol, who shall distribute to the respective International Organizations, on all forms of imports and exports, shall be distributed by the Secretariat.  

Article 7:

Limit and control

1. State Parties must adhere to an international system of regulations prohibiting the use of, selling of, trade of, or buying of illicit small arms and light weapons and will be subject to adhere to Articles 5, 6, and 8 of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;
2. State Parties are required to cooperate, pursuant to their national laws, in order to assist national implementation of the provisions of this Treaty, including sharing information regarding illicit activities and actors and in order to prevent and eradicate diversion of small arms and light weapons;
3. State Parties will exchange information on matters of the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons and organized crime in relation to the implementation and application of this Treaty pursuant to their respective security interests and national laws;
4. States Parties shall, where jointly agreed and consistent with their national laws, afford one another the widest measure of assistance in investigations, prosecutions and judicial proceeding;
5. State Parties need to control the manufacturing of conventional weapons exclusively within its territory;
6. Exporting Parties  must conduct threat assessments before the sale of weapons in order to stop organized crime from receiving weapons that may be used on civilians;
7. State Parties shall take appropriate measures to enforce national laws and regulations that implement the provisions of this Treaty.

Article 8:

Export and Export Assessment:

1. If the export is not prohibited under Article 6, each exporting State Party, prior to authorization of the export of conventional arms covered under Article 2 (1) or of items covered under Article 3 or Article 4, under its jurisdiction and pursuant to its national control system, shall, in an objective and non-discriminatory manner, taking into account relevant factors, including information provided by the importing state in accordance with Article 8 (1), assess the potential that the conventional arms or items:
   1. would contribute to or undermine peace and security;
   2. could be used to:
      1. Contribute to or undermine peace and security
      2. Commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law;
      3. Commit or facilitate a serious violation of international human rights law;
      4. Commit or facilitate an act constituting an offense under international conventions or protocols relating to terrorism to which the exporting State is a Party; or
      5. Commit or facilitate an act constituting an offense under international conventions or protocols relating to transnational organized crime to which the exporting State is a Party;
2. The exporting State Party shall also consider whether there are measures that could be undertaken to mitigate risks identified in (a) or (b) in paragraph 1, such as confidence-building measures or jointly developed and agreed on programmes by the exporting and importing states;
3. If, after conducting this assessment and considering available mitigation measures, the exporting State Party determines that there is an overriding risk of any of the negative consequences in paragraph 1, the exporting State Party shall not authorize the export.

Article 9:

Import:

1. Each importing State Party shall take measures to ensure that appropriate and relevant information is provided, upon request, pursuant to its national laws, to the exporting State Party, to assist the exporting State Party in conducting its national export assessment under Article 7. Such measures may include end use or end user documentation;
2. Each importing State Party shall take measures that will allow it to regulate, where necessary, imports under its jurisdiction of conventional arms covered under Article 2 (1). Such measures may include import systems;
3. Each importing State Party may request information from the exporting State Party concerning any pending or actual export authorizations where the importing State Party is the country of final destination;
4. Each importing party must also provide confidence building measures and programs to mitigate risks Identified in (a) or (b) in paragraph 1. These will include yearbooks by every member state.  

Article 10:

Transit or trans-shipment:

1. The Latin American Arms Trade Treaty Organization (LAATTO) will be in charge of overseeing weapons trade of states in Latin America. It’s responsibility will be to track, regulate, and keep records of all weapons entering Latin American states.
   1. This organization will work alongside with Interpol and other verification regimes in order to track the shipment of weapons from the manufacturers to the buyers in Latin America.
   2. This organization will be comprised of at least one member from every Latin American State.

Article 11:

Brokering:

1. States will need to report to the LAATTO before any purchasing or selling of weapons is completed;
2. This organization’s responsibility will be to look into who is purchasing and selling weapons in Latin America. A threat assessment will be taken of all countries involved in the transaction and the potential use of those weapons;
3. The LAATTO will have the ability to deny any transaction they find that will cause instability in the region;
4. If the LAATTO agrees with the transaction, then the LAATTO will work alongside the sellers and/or manufacturers in order to track production and movement;
5. The LAATTO will have the ability to inspect a seller and/ manufacturer at any time of the transaction. The LAATTO will follow the weapons from the point of departure to the destination;
6. The LAATTO will then perform a final inspection of the weapons before they are given to the buyer. Any tampering with any weapons will lead to the transaction becoming void;
7. After the buyer receives the weapons, the LATTO will continuously monitor and track where the weapons are at all times, and will detail any major movements in their quarterly, and yearly reports;
8. If the LAATTO need assistance with brokering, regulating, or tracking, they may seek assistance from Interpol, IAEA, OPCW, Wassenaar, and/or MTCR.  

Article 12:

Diversion:

1. Each State and the LAATTO will be involved in the transfer of small arms and light weapons covered under Article 2 (1) shall take measures to prevent their diversion;
2. The exporting State Party shall seek to prevent the diversion of the transfer of small arms and light weapons covered under Article 2 (1) through its national control system, established in accordance with Article 5 (2), by assessing the risk of diversion of the export and considering the establishment of mitigation measures such as confidence-building measures or jointly developed and agreed programmes by the exporting and importing states. Other preventative measures may include, where appropriate: examining parties involved in the export; requiring additional documentation; certificates, and assurances; not authorizing certain exports; or other appropriate measures;
3. Importing, transit, trans-shipment and exporting States Parties shall cooperate and exchange information, pursuant to their national laws, where appropriate and feasible, in order to mitigate the risk of diversion of the transfer of small arms and light weapons covered under Article 2 (1). This will all be overseen by the LAATTO, and they will be in charge of keeping records that states provide them. They will also do their own separate reporting outside the States reporting.
4. If a State Party or LAATTO detects a diversion of transferred small arms and light weapons covered under Article 2 (1), the State Party and the LAATTO shall take appropriate measures, pursuant to its national laws and in accordance with international law, to address such diversion. Such measures may include alerting potentially affected States Parties, examining diverted shipments of such small arms and light weapons covered under Article 2 (1), and taking follow-up measures through investigation and law enforcement;
5. In order to better comprehend and prevent the diversion of transferred small arms and light weapons covered under Article 2 (1), States Parties and the LAATTO are encouraged to share relevant information with one another on effective measures to address diversion. Such information may include information on illicit activities including corruption, international trafficking routes, illicit brokers, sources of illicit supply, methods of concealment, common points of dispatch, or destinations used by organized groups engaged in diversion;
6. States Parties are encouraged to report to other State Parties and the LAATTO, through the depository, on measures taken in addressing the diversion of transferred small arms and light weapons covered under Article 2 (1).

Article 13:

Record Keeping:

1. Each State Party shall maintain national records, pursuant to its national laws and regulations, of its issuance of export authorizations or its actual exports of the arms covered under Article 2 (1);
2. Each State Party is required to maintain records of arms covered under Article 2 (1) that are transferred to its territory as the final destination or that are authorized to transit or trans-ship territory under its jurisdiction;
3. Each State Party will include in those records: the quantity, value, model, and type of authorized international transfers of small and light weapons arms covered under Article 2 (1), small arms and light weapons actually transferred, details of exporting State(s), importing State(s), transit and transshipment state(s), and end users, as appropriate;
4. Records shall be submitted annually to the Secretary General of the United Nations;
5. Records shall be kept for a minimum of ten years.

Article 14:

Verification and Enforcement:

1. Each State Party shall take appropriate measures to enforce national laws and regulations that implement the provisions of this Treaty;
2. Each State Party will work alongside International Organizations to assist in investigations, verification, and enforcement:
   1. Interpol
   2. IAEA
   3. OPCW
   4. Wassenaar Group
   5. MTCR
   6. LAATTO
3. Each State Party shall take all appropriate measures to hold regional counterparts accountable.

Article 15:

Dispute Settlement:

1. All members of the LAATTO shall make every attempt by mutual consent, cooperate to pursue settlement of any and all disputes that may arise between them with regard to the interpretation or application of this Treaty including through negotiations, mediation, conciliation, judicial settlement or other peaceful means;
2. States Parties may pursue, by reciprocal cooperation, arbitration to settle any disagreements regarding issues concerning the interpretation or application of this treaty as referred to the International Court of Justice;
3. All parties to the LAATTO agree to follow all measures of the Treaty even during arbitrations, disagreements, mediation, and conciliation processes until an agreeable outcome is derived.

Article 16:

Amendments:

Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval or Accession

1. This Treaty shall be open for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York by all states until its entry into force on the date specified by the depository;
2. This Treaty will be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by each signatory state through proper channels and procedures;
3. After this treaty has been entered into force, any state who has not signed on may do so;
4. The instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be deposited with the depositary for record keeping and enforcement.

Article 17:

Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval or Accession

1. The Treaty must include a two-thirds majority vote. As such, this treaty requires ten signatories for passage;
2. The states eligible to vote include:
   1. Brazil
   2. China
   3. The Democratic Republic of the Congo
   4. France
   5. India
   6. Iran
   7. Israel
   8. Mexico
   9. Pakistan
   10. Russia
   11. Syria
   12. Turkey
   13. Ukraine
   14. United States of America
   15. Venezuela
3. Signatories must include Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela. In addition, three of the five exporting states of the United States of America, France, Russia, Israel and China must also sign for the treaty to go into effect;
4. The General Conference shall not take any decision regarding the admission of a political entity part or all of whose territory is the subject, prior to the date when this Treaty is opened for signature, of a dispute or claim between an extra-continental country and one or more Latin American States, so long as the dispute has not been settled by peaceful means.

Article 18:

Depository        

1. The nation of Suriname shall be the country to house the Depository of this Treaty in its capital city of Paramaribo; as well as with the Secretary General of the United Nations at the Headquarters housed in Geneva.

Article 19:

Entry into Force

1. This Treaty shall enter into force ninety days following the date of the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval with the depositary and will inform all Member States when this number is satisfied;
2. For any state that deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession subsequent to the entry into force of this Treaty, this Treaty shall enter into force for that state ninety days following the date of deposit of its instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

Article 20:

General Implementation:

1. Each State Party shall implement this Treaty in a manner consistent with the objective of and bearing in mind the principles set forth in this Treaty;
2. Each State Party shall provide its national control list to the depository, which shall make it available to other State Parties. State Parties are required to make their control lists publicly available;
3. Each State Party shall take measures necessary to implement the provisions of this Treaty and shall designate competent national authorities in order to have an effective and transparent national control system regulating the transfer of arms covered under Article 2(1) and of items covered under Article 3 and Article 4;
4. Each State Party shall designate one or more national points of contact to exchange information on matters related to the implementation of this Treaty. Each State Party shall notify the depository, established under Article 3, of its national point(s) of contact and keep the information updated;
5. Each State Party is encouraged to apply the provisions of this Treaty to the broadest range of arms;
6. Each State Party shall take measures to ensure transparency, including full annual reports of national arms transfers;
7. Each State Party shall have an effective mechanism to monitor compliance;
8. In order to ensure accountability with provisions for adjudication, dispute settlement, and sanctions;
9. Article 4.1 (a)-(f) shall not cover less than the descriptions used in the United Nations Register of Arms at the time of entry into force of this Treaty.

Article 21:

Provisional Application:

1. Declarations and Reservations:
   1. Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made upon acceptance, accession, approval, ratification or provisional application;
2. Any state that signs the Treaty or ratifies, accepts, or approves the Treaty as an instrument of their state must declare that it will provisionally apply Articles 6 and 7 pending the entry into force of this Treaty for that state.

Article 22:

Duration and Withdrawal:

1. This Treaty shall be of an unlimited duration;
2. Each State Party, in respect to national sovereignty, may withdraw from this Treaty. It must inform the depository of their withdrawal, who will then notify all other State Parties.  The reason for withdrawal must include a written explanation. The notice of withdrawal will take effect one hundred days after the receipt of the notification of withdrawal by the depositary unless the notification of withdrawal is to take place on a later date;
3. States shall not be discharged from responsibilities and compulsions, by reason of withdrawal, from the obligations arising from this Treaty while it was a Party to this Treaty, as well as any financial obligations that it may have accrued.

Article 23:

Reservations:

1. At the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, states may catalog reservations, unless the reservations are contradictory with the object and purpose of this Treaty;
2. A State Party may withdraw its reservation at any time by written notification to this effect addressed to the depositary.

Article 24:

Relationship with Other International Agreements:

1. The implementation of this Treaty shall not infringe on obligations undertaken by State Parties with regard to existing or future agreements to which they may belong, where those obligations are consistent with this Treaty;
2. This Treaty shall not be cited as sufficient grounds for violating or defense cooperation agreements concluded between State Parties to this Treaty and other members of the international community where similar agreements and treaties may exist.

Article 25:

Regulations and Documentation:

1. A national registry documenting and verifying all transfers of small arms and light weapons within a sovereign territory shall be established by State Parties to be overseen by competent authorities designated by the relevant state agencies and international verification regimes;
2. Through a state export control system, State Parties can effectively:

1. Comply with their obligations under this treaty;
2. Control the conditions under which items are exported from territory under the jurisdiction of the authorizing State Party to another country;
3. Prevent the export of items under certain conditions and circumstances given special scrutiny;
4. Reduce the risk that the exported items will be diverted to unauthorized groups and users so as to increase accountability and transparency;
5. Keep consistent and regularly updated records of transfers originating from territories under their jurisdictions and keep detailed recordings of all said transfers.

Article 26:

Authentic Texts:    

1. The original text of this Treaty, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article 27:

1. The states hereby establish the Latin American Arms Trade Treaty Organization to ensure the object and purpose of this Treaty, to establish the enforcement of its provisions, including those for international verification of compliance with it, and to provide a council for consultation and cooperation among States Parties;
2. All Latin American States Parties shall be members of the Organization. A State Party shall not be deprived of its membership in the Organization;
3. Each State Party shall cooperate with LAATTO in the exercise of its functions in accordance with this Treaty.  States Parties shall consult, directly among themselves, or through the LAATTO or other appropriate international procedures, including procedures within the framework of the United Nations and in accordance with its Charter, on any matter which may be raised relating to the object and purpose, or the implementation of the provisions, of this Treaty;
4. LAATTO shall conduct its verification activities provided for under this Treaty in the least intrusive manner possible consistent with the timely and efficient accomplishment of their objectives. It shall request only the information and data necessary to fulfil its responsibilities under this Treaty.

Annex A

SALWs and Conventional Arms

1. Within the area of Latin America as defined in Article II, each State Party shall limit and reduce to the lowest possible levels consistent with national security requirements its SALWs, including heavy machine guns, handheld underbarrel and mounted grenade launchers, infantry fighting vehicles, heavy armament combat vehicles, recoilless rifles, and anti-aircraft missile systems so that, 40 months after entry into force of this Treaty and thereafter, for the group of States Parties to which it belongs, the aggregate numbers do not exceed:
   1. 10,000 heavy machine guns, of which no more than 8,500 shall be in active units;
   2. 5,000 handheld under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers, of which no more than 2,000 shall be in active units. Of the 8,500 of armaments, no more than 3,000 shall be armoured infantry fighting vehicles and heavy armament combat vehicles; no more than 500 shall be equipped on heavy armament combat vehicles; ;
   3. 2,800 recoilless rifles; and
   4. 500 portable anti-aircraft missile systems.  
2. The term “small arms and light weapons” applies to any weapons that can be used and/or maneuvered by two or less individuals and to large calibre systems capable of engaging ground targets by delivering primarily indirect fire. Such systems provide the essential indirect fire support to combined arms formations. Large calibre artillery systems are guns, howitzers, artillery pieces combining the characteristics of guns and howitzers, mortars and multiple launch rocket systems with a calibre of 100 millimetres and above. In addition, any future large calibre direct fire system which has a secondary effective indirect fire capability shall be counted against the SALW ceiling
3. Within the area of Latin America as defined in Article II, each State Party shall limit and reduce its conventional weapons, including armoured combat vehicles, artillery, combat aircraft and attack helicopters so that, 40 months after entry into force of this Treaty and thereafter, for the group of States Parties to which it belongs, the aggregate numbers do not exceed:
   1. 10,000 battle tanks, of which no more than 7,500 shall be in active units;
   2. 10,000 armoured combat vehicles, of which no more than 7,300 shall be in active units. Of the 10,000 armoured combat vehicles, no more than 6,000 shall be armoured infantry fighting vehicles and heavy armament combat vehicles; of armoured infantry fighting vehicles and heavy armament combat vehicles, no more than 500 shall be heavy armament combat vehicles;
   3. 7,000 pieces of artillery, of which no more than 12,500 shall be in active units;
   4. 3,800 combat aircraft; and
   5. 1,000 attack helicopters.
4. States Parties belonging to the same group of States Parties may locate battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles and artillery in active units in each of the territories described in Article II up to the numerical limitations applying in that area, consistent with the maximum levels for holdings provided that no State Party stations conventional armed forces on the territory of another State Party without the agreement of that State Party.
5. The term “battle tank” applies to self-propelled armoured fighting vehicles, capable of heavy firepower, primarily of a high muzzle velocity direct fire main gun necessary to engage armoured and other targets, with high cross-country mobility, with a high level of self-protection, and which is not designed and equipped primarily to transport combat troops. Such armoured vehicles serve as the principal weapon system of ground-force tank and other armoured formations. Battle tanks are tracked armoured fighting vehicles which weigh at least 16.5 metric tonnes unladen weight and which are armed with a 360-degree traverse gun of at least 75 millimetres calibre. In addition, any wheeled armoured fighting vehicles entering into service which meet all the other criteria stated above shall also be deemed battle tanks.
6. The term “armoured combat vehicle” means a self-propelled vehicle with armoured protection and cross-country capability. Armoured combat vehicles include armoured personnel carriers, armoured infantry fighting vehicles and heavy armament combat vehicles. The term “armoured personnel carrier” means an armoured combat vehicle which is designed and equipped to transport a combat infantry

Annex B

1. Within the area of Latin America as defined in Article II, each State Party shall remain to ban Chemical weapons in accordance with the Chemical Weapons convention and its definitions;
2. “Chemical Weapons” applies to the following, together or separately:
   1. Toxic chemicals and their precursors, except where intended for purposes not prohibited under this Convention, as long as the types and quantities are consistent with such purposes;
   2. Munitions and devices, specifically designed to cause death or other harm through the toxic properties of those toxic chemicals specified in subparagraph (a), which would be released as a result of the employment of such munitions and devices;
   3. Any equipment specifically designed for use directly in connection with the employment of munitions and devices specified in subparagraph (b).
3. Within the area of Latin America as defined in Article II, each State Party shall remain to ban biological weapons in accordance with the Biological Weapons convention and its definitions;
4. Within the area of Latin America as defined in Article II, each State Party shall continue the reduction of all types of deployed and non-deployed missiles and deployed and non-deployed launchers of such missiles and support structures and support equipment associated with such missiles and launchers.
5. Within the area of Latin America as defined in Article II, each State Party shall remain to ban Weapons of Mass destruction in accordance with the Treaty of Tlatelolco.
6. For the purposes of this Treaty, a Weapon of Mass Destruction is any device which is capable of releasing energy in an uncontrolled manner and which has a group of characteristics that are appropriate for use for warlike purposes. An instrument that may be used for the transport or propulsion of the device is not included in this definition if it is separable from the device and not an indivisible part thereof.

Signature and Reservations

Signature of Ambassador Alsulaiman of Iran

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Ambassador Rodriguez of France

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of President Blanco from Venezuela

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of President Chavez of Syria

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Secretary General Fargas of the DRC

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Ambassador Kalam of India

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of President Hageman of China

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Ambassador Collins of Pakistan

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Ambassador Lehnerz of Ukraine

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Ambassador Metzler of Israel

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of President Perez of the United States

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Prime Minister Prince of Turkey

Michelle Prince

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of President Shinrock of Mexico

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of President Thomas of the Russian Federation

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of President Vangundy of Brazil

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Under Secretary General Rodriguez of the United Nations Office on Disarmament Affairs

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Agent Metzler of Interpol

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Director General Prince of the OPCW

Michelle Prince

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Consultant Hageman of the MTCR

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Secretary General Fargas of the Organization of American States

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Consultant Collins of the Wassenaar Group

Statement of Reservation:

Signature of Consultant Shinrock of the International Atomic Energy Agency

Statement of Reservation: