Combating Transnational Organized Crime and Its Links to Illicit Trafficking in Precious Metals and Illegal Mining, Including by Enhancing the Security of Supply Chains of Precious Metals

E/RES/2019/23View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 19c Crime prevention and criminal justice, published in 2019.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Programme 13	International drug control, crime and terrorism prevention and criminal justice	377

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Programme 13	International drug control, crime and terrorism prevention and criminal justice	377	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Illicit Traffic Organized Crime Precious Metals Transnational Crime

What’s in this document?

17 operative paragraphs

Invites Member States, in line with domestic legal frameworks, to consider criminalizing, where appropriate, illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining and to take appropriate measures to prevent and combat illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining by organized criminal groups, including by controlling and securing the supply chain and introducing the legislation necessary to prevent, investigate and prosecute illicit trafficking in precious metals;

Invites Member States that have not yet done so to consider becoming parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto3 and the United Nations Convention against Corruption;4

Strongly encourages Member States to use the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto and the Convention against Corruption with a view to strengthening international cooperation in preventing and combating illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining;

Invites Member States to promote the enhancement of the security of supply chains of precious metals to prevent infiltration by organized criminal groups;

Also invites Member States to take note of and consider implementing the national precious metals action plan as prepared by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and contained in Strengthening the Security and Integrity of the Precious Metals Supply Chain, under which the importance is stressed of, inter alia, developing national risk assessments on the integrity of the precious metals supply chain, establishing regional laboratories for the analysis of precious metals in which to profile precious metals and analyse their fingerprints and reinforcing the capacity of Member States to protect the supply chain from infiltration by organized criminal groups;

Further invites Member States to share examples of relevant national, regional and international laws, regulatory standards and case studies on best practices in securing supply chains of precious metals relevant to the study of topics such as the prevention of money-laundering and import and export controls with relevant institutions, including the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute;

Invites Member States to work in cooperation with the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other relevant international and regional organizations to identify and promote the use of solutions that utilize emerging technology and can contribute in a specific manner to preventing and combating illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining by organized criminal groups, including technology that strengthens the integrity of the precious metals supply chain, in particular as regards traceability, authentication and forensics, technology related to forensics and technology for the analysis and visualization of big data to monitor evolving crime trends and patterns;

Encourages Member States to cooperate with each other in providing training on precious metals to law enforcement personnel in terms of identifying, investigating, taking samples, dispatching samples to laboratories for analysis, recording and reporting seizures and producing relevant statistics on seizures and prosecutions at the national level;

Also encourages Member States, consistent with their domestic legal frameworks and international obligations, to provide one another with the broadest possible assistance, including through bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements on matters related to law enforcement, and to enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement action to combat offences related to illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining;

Encourages States parties to adopt, consistent with their obligations, measures consistent with the Convention against Corruption, in particular chapters II and V thereof, where applicable, and to apply them to offences covered by the Convention related to illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining;

Encourages Member States to take the necessary measures to trace, freeze, seize, confiscate and, in appropriate cases, return proceeds of crime derived from illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining, consistent with the provisions of the Organized Crime Convention and the Convention against Corruption;

Invites Member States in whose jurisdiction the possession, import, export and transport of, trading in or selling of illegally obtained precious metals is not a criminal offence to adopt legislative or other measures as may be necessary and appropriate to ensure that the integrity of the precious metals supply chain is properly regulated;

Encourages Member States to enhance international cooperation, information-sharing and exchanges of best practices among law enforcement and judicial authorities, in accordance with their domestic legal frameworks and international obligations, in preventing and combating illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining;

Also encourages Member States to consider adopting legislative or other appropriate measures to strengthen border control, including by using appropriate technologies as may be necessary to prevent and detect illicit trafficking in precious metals and the use of mercury in illegal mining;

Invites the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue to provide, upon request, technical assistance to Member States, and encourages the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and other relevant international and regional organizations to closely coordinate their activities and enhance their cooperation in supporting Member States in their efforts to combat illicit trafficking in precious metals and illegal mining;

Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to report to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its twenty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

Invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary resources for the purposes described above, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the United Nations.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?