Armament > Conference for the control of the international trade in arms, munitions and implements of war

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REPORT OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE TO THE FIFTH ASSEMBLY
AND RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE ASSEMBLY AT ITS
MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 27th, 1924.
Rapporteur: General de Marinis (Italy).
I. CONTROL OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ARMS, MUNITIONS AND
IMPLEMENTS OF WAR.
The Temporary Mixed Commission has prepared this year a draft Convention on the Inter¬
national Control of Arms, Munitions and Implements of War. It had been asked by the Council to
draw up this draft in pursuance of Resolution YVa of the last Assembly. The Temporary Mixed
Commission, at the end of its report to the Council, stated that in its opinion the draft that had
been prepared might very well provide a basis for the work of the International Conference which
the Council and the Assembly had, on several occasions, stated that it was their intention to
convene for the purpose of drawing up and concluding the Convention.
In pursuance of the Resolution IVa in question, the Government of the United States had
been invited to send representatives to co-operate with the Temporary Mixed Commission and
had acceded to this request. The two United States Ministers who have successively held office
in Berne this year have helped to prepare the draft Convention. Furthermore, on August 29th
last, the Government of the United States stated that it would be prepared to consider favourably
an invitation to take part in an International Conference convened for the purpose of concluding
a Convention for the Control of the International Trade in Arms, Munitions and Implements of
War.
In these circumstances, the Third Committee thought that the moment was opportune for
complying with the recommendations of former Assemblies. It accordingly proposes the follow¬
ing draft resolution:
Draft Resolution.
“The Committee proposes that the Assembly should ask the Council to submit to
the Governments of States Members and non-members of the League of Nations the
draft Convention relating to the Control of the International Trade in Arms, Munitions
and Implements ofWar drawn up bytheTemporary Mixed Commission, and to request these
Governments to inform the Secretary-General, before the Council meets in December,
whether they are prepared to take part in a Conference to be convened in April or May
1925 for the purpose of discussing this draft Convention.”
It should be added that the Temporary Mixed Commission left to the discretion of the Council
certain provisions of the draft that it did not consider it was in a position to define.
The Third Committee was of opinion that the draft Convention should be submitted to the
International Conference without modification, i.e., as it was left by the Temporary Mixed Com¬
mission, it being understood that the Council, should it deem fit, could add, as an annex to the
draft, such suggestions or recommendations as it considered advisable to make on those points
on which the Temporary Mixed Commission had refrained from giving its decision.
II. STATISTICAL ENQUIRY ON THE TRADE IN ARMS, MUNITIONS AND
IMPLEMENTS OF WAR.
The Temporary Mixed Commission, in investigating the question of the control of the trade
in arms, munitions and war material, came to the conclusion that it would be advisable to have
exact data as to the volume of this trade. It therefore asked the Secretariat, with the approval
of the Council, to prepare from official and public documents a statistical summary on the subject.
The Third Committee, on being informed of this work, considered that it was of great import¬
ance and should be continued. It also expressed the opinion that the work might well provide