United Nations General Assembly A/RES/57/72 Distr.: General 30 December 2002 Fifty-seventh session Agenda item 66 (v) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the First Committee (A/57/510)] 57/72. The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects The General Assembly, Reaffirming its resolution 56/24 V of 24 December 2001, Recalling its resolutions 50/70 B of 12 December 1995, 52/38 J of 9 December 1997, 53/77 E and 53/77 T of 4 December 1998, 54/54 R of 1 December 1999, 54/54 V of 15 December 1999 and 55/33 Q of 20 November 2000, Emphasizing the importance of early and full implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, 1 adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, 1. Decides to convene in New York in July 2003 the first of the biennial meetings of States, as stipulated in the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects to consider the implementation of the Programme of Action at the national, regional and global levels; 2. Welcomes the convening of the Group of Governmental Experts established to assist the Secretary-General to undertake a study on the feasibility of developing an international instrument to enable States to identify and trace, in a timely and reliable manner, illicit small arms and light weapons, and requests him to submit the study to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session; 3. Encourages all initiatives to mobilize resources and expertise to promote the implementation of the Programme of Action and to provide assistance to States in its implementation; 4. Decides to consider at its fifty-eighth session further steps to enhance international cooperation in preventing, combating and eradicating illicit brokering in small arms and light weapons, taking into consideration the views of States, provided to the Secretary-General, on further steps that could be taken; _______________ 1 See Report of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, New York, 9–20 July 2001 (A/CONF.192/15), para. 24. 02 54281