Nations finalize plans to meet later in 2004 to promote UN treaty against organized crime

Preparations have been completed for parties to a United Nations treaty against organized crime to meet later this year to promote the pact, which is among the first global legal instruments to tackle illegal cross-border activities.

The Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime ended its final session in Vienna today, finalizing the rules of procedure for the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, which will be held in the Austrian capital from 28 June to 9 July.

The Convention, which entered into force on 29 September 2003, has 147 States Signatories and 60 States Parties. During the Committee's session, several signatories announced their imminent ratification.

Two of the treaty's three protocols were adopted along with it: the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea. The third Protocol - against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition - was adopted in May 2001, and is not yet in force.

Antonio Maria Costa, the Executive Director of UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), praised the spirit of cooperation that pervaded the Committee's work. He stressed the importance of this last session, which has set the stage for the effective and flexible functioning of the Conference of the Parties, an implementation mechanism with great potential.

Mr. Costa urged Member States to expedite their ratification processes and join the Conference next June as full participants. He also appealed to countries to provide their full political, technical and financial support to the Convention.