Produced by the Monterey Institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Updated May 2006

Resolution 1540 recognizes "the need to enhance coordination of efforts on national, sub-regional, regional and international levels in order to strengthen a global response to this... threat to international security." The resolution requires all states to:

• "Adopt and enforce appropriate effective laws which prohibit any non-State actor to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes" (paragraph 2);
• "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 by establishing appropriate controls over related materials." To enact controls that include: (a) measures to account for and secure such items; (b) effective physical protection measures; (c) effective border controls and law enforcement efforts; and (d) effective national export and trans-shipment controls over such items (paragraph 3).

The resolution further calls upon states to promote dialogue and cooperation on nonproliferation (paragraph 9) and to take cooperative action to prevent illegal trafficking (paragraph 10).

Another provision of Resolution 1540 establishes a Committee of the Security Council. The Committee is comprised of representatives from each member of the Security Council along with any additional outside experts tasked by the United Nations to aid the Committee in its work. The mandate for the Committee originally was set to expire on April 28, 2006, but was extended until April 27, 2008. The Committee's main objective is to collect comprehensive reports from states parties; the first report was due six months from the adoption of the resolution on October 28, 2004. By the deadline, 54 countries had submitted their required reports. Within the report, a member country provides details on the steps that have been taken or the intended steps towards the implementation of this resolution. For example, France submitted a 25-page report detailing the nonproliferation efforts for nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and ballistic missiles. It also provided information on France's membership in export control regimes or other multilateral forums. Furthermore, the comprehensive report outlined inter-ministerial coordination and other measures taken by France to implement Resolution 1540. The United States submitted a report that provides a survey of the range of U.S. laws, programs, and initiatives to address proliferation. The report, a multi-agency effort, provides detailed information on U.S. efforts to implement the resolution. It also includes U.S. assistance to other states, support for the existing nonproliferation treaties, and efforts to prevent WMD trafficking. In contrast, countries such as Burkina Faso submitted a 2-page report indicating that the country is neither an exporter nor producer of such weapons, and with little information to provide, it simply stated its support for the resolution. The country reports serve as an important tool in understanding the scope of the proliferation challenge and how it can best be addressed. Furthermore, the Committee's purpose in conducting the reviews of these reports is to identify where governments have overlooked proliferation loopholes in their national statues, border controls, and export control systems.

The Committee is tasked with analyzing the country reports and drafting a report to the Security Council, establishing a procedure for assessing global efforts against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related delivery systems. To this end, the 1540 Committee is mandated with overseeing the implementation of the resolution and will report to the Security Council on member states' progress towards enacting laws and procedures to enforce them. As of February 15, 2006, a total of 124 countries had reported to the committee; 70 countries had not reported. An April 27, 2006 UN Security Council Resolution extended the Committee's mandate until April 2008, and charged the Committee to increase states' compliance with the resolution by pursuing more outreach efforts and offering more technical assistance.