United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540

Resolution 1540 is a unanimous decision of the UN Security Council to control the spread of weapons of mass destruction, whose draft was submitted by the United States in April 2004.

Content of resolution 1540

The UN resolution requiring all States to implement effective legal and regulatory measures to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Resolution 1540 demands that all States " take and enforce effective measures to establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, including establishing appropriate controls over related materials ." The resolution calls upon States to submit a report on the steps they have taken to implement the resolution or want to do. It is the first resolution in the Security Council of the UN Member States requires special measures to deal with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

1540 Committee of the UN Security Council

To monitor the implementation of the resolution, a committee ( " 1540 Committee " ) was established, whose mandate was last renewed with Security Council resolutions 1673 (2006) and 1810 (2008) until April 2011. Until July 1, 2008 155 States had submitted their national implementation reports and additional information about them.

The Implementation Report of May 2009 to the UN Security Council, the poor implementation of the resolution in many Member States is criticized attested despite progress in some areas. In particular, a strengthening of the role of the Committee is sought as a " clearing house" for auxiliary position of Member States to other Member States in the implementation of resolution.

Resolution 1810 (2008) also provides a comprehensive report of the committee on the implementation of Resolution 1540 to 31 January 2009.