CARICOM Member States, like the majority of countries within the United Nations system, largely lack the necessary legal foundations upon which to build and enforce an effective regional system of export controls and border security as mandated by UNSCR 1540 and subsequent United Nations resolutions. Despite endorsement of non-proliferation objectives by CARICOM Member States, regional implementation of the UNSCR 1540 is still lagging.
The Caribbean has long served as a “thoroughfare” for illicit trade in narcotics and firearms. Serious concerns have also been raised at the prospect of the Region becoming a safe-heaven for money-laundering related to arms and human smuggling and terrorist activities. In addition to these proliferation challenges, the regional export control architecture remains out of step with the threats and strategic environment it currently faces. No CARICOM Member State currently possesses a comprehensive national export control law or regulations. While there have been continued efforts to harmonise customs policies on a regional level, there are indications that these efforts have not gone far enough to address the proliferation challenges focused in UNSCR 1540. In addition, limited personnel and infrastructure resources, porous borders and socio-economic realities exacerbated by the recent global economic crisis, all serve to compound existing transit and trans-shipment challenges, complicate enforcement of effective non-proliferation policies, and inhibit efforts to institutionalise regional inter-agency cooperation.
At the same time, the Region offers significant opportunities for economic development and trade. Notwithstanding the current global economic environment, the Region remains an attractive investment location, benefitting from trade and economic partnerships with the US, the European Union and Asia. Despite the global economic recession, a recent report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) indicates that during 2008, the Caribbean actually experienced a spike in foreign direct investment with a 42 per cent increase and a growth in exports from Latin America by 23 per cent in 2008. Expansion of transshipment capacity at Kingston, Jamaica, already the Fifth busiest port facility in the Americas outside of the United States, will also benefit the Region’s economies, thus facilitating trade and expansion of related industries, including transportation, logistics and freight forwarding.
CARICOM Member States recognise that in order to effectively capitalise on the Region’s strategic location, Member States must continue to harmonise export control systems across the Region; encourage inter- and intra-agency cooperation in the export licensing process; and facilitate information sharing and coordination among regional governments, and enhance regional customs and border security capacities;
These measures will allow them to handle the heightened flow of cargo and people without undermining regional security. To that end, the Community has requested assistance from the United Nations 1540 Committee in conducting a thorough review of the Member States’ national export control legal bases, identifying regulatory gaps, and developing comprehensive regional mechanisms to address them.
A modern, efficient regional export control and border security system consisting of well-crafted legislation, efficient infrastructure, and effective enforcement would help alleviate the threats posed by transnational criminal enterprises and prevent the unlawful proliferation of sensitive technologies, materials, and expertise, while also curtailing illegal trafficking in arms, narcotics, and other contraband. At the same time, effective border control and customs services would foster economic development in the Region by easing the flow of legitimate cross-border trade, thereby increasing employment opportunities, broadening the regional tax base, and allowing for transparent and efficient migration control.
The CARICOM-UNSCR 1540 Legal-Regulatory Initiative
To capitalise on the positive momentum generated by CARICOM’s engagement with international nonproliferation experts and to assist CARICOM in understanding and fully implementing proliferation control mechanisms mandated by the UNSCR 1540, the Centre for International Trade and Security (CITS) will undertake a one-year initiative, on behalf of the CARICOM Secretariat, aimed at facilitating the legislative drafting process and the development of regulatory mechanisms designed to fulfill the CARICOM’s non-proliferation obligations under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540.
Specifically, the CITS will undertake “table-top” evaluations of legal-regulatory bases of all CARICOM Member States, identify areas in which existing regulations fall short of accepted international non-proliferation norms, and propose a model legal framework for the Region, to facilitate adoption of national measures to prohibit State and non-State actors from contributing to the development, transfer or use of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) weapons and related technology.
The Centre will also conduct baseline assessments of the national non-proliferation legal authorities of each CARICOM Member State, including the status of implementation of the key provisions of the Resolution to date, with the goal of identifying gaps in the national physical protection, financial, and export controls, and border security measures related to CBRN-relevant technologies and their means of delivery. The CITS will work with the CARICOM Regional Coordinator for UNSCR 1540 to identify institutional capacity deficiencies and training needs required to implement the mandates of the Resolution.
