Armaments for destruction are registered in advance by members of an inspection team in BiH.

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Demonstration of the OSCE's commitment to assisting the disposal of excess small arms, light weapons and conventional ammunition through destruction.

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The OSCE Mission assists Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to fulfil commitments within the OSCE security and politico-military dimension. The Department of Security Co-operation (DSC), and in particular its Arms Control Section supports all relevant institutions in BiH to help them meet international standards in defence and security.

Through collaborative efforts, confidence and security building measures are being strengthened, and compliance with the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, Vienna Document of the Negotiations on Confidence and Security-Building Measures (1992), Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons, and others, has been improved and promoted for the benefit of the country.

With the support of the OSCE Mission, BiH has significantly improved its implementation record in the last years - by providing timely information exchanges, joining the OSCE Communication Network, improving democratic control of the Armed Forces of BiH, and in the training of its staff in State and entity defence and security institutions. This improved implementation and compliance has offered added value in the global fight against terrorism; in particular, many anti-terrorist initiatives have been facilitated through preventative and soft security measures.

The OSCE Mission and its international partners in BiH, including NATO, EUFOR, OHR, and United Nations Development Programme, have closely co-ordinated their efforts to address the problems posed by the enormous stocks of weapons and ammunition that still exist in the country. With a new structure for the Armed Forces of BiH comprising 10,000 soldiers and 5,000 reservists, BiH weapons and ammunition holdings – including heavy weapons and small arms and light weapons (SALW) – remain far in excess of requirements to meet the country’s legitimate security needs. The need to identify, secure, and destroy surplus and obsolete weapons, as well as to consolidate ammunition and weapon storage sites, presents a serious challenge to BiH authorities and the international community.

The SALW destruction, which started with Pilot Project in 2004 successfully continued in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 a total of 56,840 pieces of SALW have been destroyed and in 2006 so far 3,073 pieces have been destroyed. In addition, the year 2006 marked the beginning of industrial demilitarisation of large calibre ammunition. More than 5,000 mortar shells of 82-mm and 120-mm calibre have been already dismantled. It is specified by EUFOR inventory that 130,512 pieces of SALW 35,827 tons of ammunition remain in BiH.

Discussion on information exchange on small arms and light weapons in BiH.

The OSCE Mission has continued its work with BiH authorities in establishing effective State-level control of the import and export of weapons and military equipment by assisting BiH authorities in the implementation of the State-level Law on the Import and Export of Weapons and Military Equipment. Furthermore, a BiH Law on Weapons Production has been prepared and passed with OSCE assistance. The Arms Control Section will also propose improvements and amendments to the existing Laws and developing of a State Law on Civilian procurement, possession of SALW and associated ammunition and Amnesty with regard to such a possession.

The Arms Control Section provides support to BiH to fulfil its OSCE obligations under the 1993 Document on Conventional Arms Transfers, the 2000 Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons, the 2003 OSCE Document on Stockpiles of Conventional Ammunition, and the Handbook of Best Practices on Small Arms and Light Weapons. High priority is also given to the Forum of Security Co-operation (FSC) Decision of 2003 concerning Man-Portable Air Defence Systems in light of the potential access of terrorist groups to these weapons and the subsequent devastating effects this could cause.

Articles II and IV of Annex 1B of the Dayton Peace Agreement were instrumental to sub-regional stabilization. Article II has been terminated following its successful implementation. Since its inception in February 1996, Article IV continues to provide the framework for negotiations of arms control at the sub-regional level.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office has appointed a Personal Representative, based in Vienna, to implement Article IV. General Claudio Sampaolo (Italy) has held this position since 01 July 2004.

The OSCE, under the supervision of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman–in-Office (CiO) for Articles II and IV, facilitated 248 inspection missions within 543 objects of inspection including 37 reduction missions with 128 inspections supported by 694 OSCE international inspectors and assistants.

The aim of the remaining Article IV inspections is to verify exchanged information across the sub-region (BiH, Croatia and Serbia). The OSCE Mission also supports assisting inspectors from other OSCE participating states when BiH conducts inspections or their defence facilities are subject to inspection.

The Arms Control Section provides operational, administrative and technical assistance to the Personal Representative for activities involving arms control inspections, reduction of heavy weapons, and training of BiH arms control experts.

Over the last nine years, the Parties to the Agreement on Confidence and Security Building Measures (Article II) have participated in a very robust implementation of the agreement and its measures. This participation has culminated in a number of notable developments:

a Seminar on Democratic Control of the Armed Forces, which has led to a multitude of follow-on initiatives;
a Seminar on Civil-Military Co-operation, in cases of natural or man-made disaster that led to the recent Command Post Exercise and Field Training Exercise;
development of a separate Protocol on Visits to Weapons Manufacturing Facilities, as well as
a Protocol on Aerial Observation;
and, a variety of other seminars and workshops on issues related to democratic control of the armed forces and institution building.

The Parties to the Article II took the decision to terminate the agreement on 28 September 2004. This decision was taken in consideration that under the BiH Defence Law there is now a single defence establishment, meaning that the need for such an inspection regime is no more.

Following the termination of Article II, BiH is obliged to create a governmental State-level Verification Centre, in order to comply with existing requirements and obligations with respect to arms control and confidence and security building measures. The Arms Control Section will continue to provide all necessary support and advice to authorities in the stand up of the BiH Verification Centre.

The establishment of the BiH Verification Centre is a result of the process led by the Defence Reform Commission and the Joint Consultative Commission’s Working Group sponsored by the Office of the OSCE CiO’s Personal Representative for Articles IV.