Trinidad and Tobago
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: Trinidad and Tobago acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 21 September 2011. In its initial transparency report for the convention, provided in September 2014, Trinidad and Tobago stated the national legislative process to enforce the convention is ongoing and confirmed it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 21 September 2011 and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 March 2012.
In September 2014, Trinidad and Tobago reported under the status of national implementation measures that the “legislative process is ongoing.”[1]
Trinidad and Tobago submitted its initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency measures report on 15 September 2014.[2] As the report was originally due in 2012, Trinidad and Tobago also provided the annual updated reports due in 2013 and 2014, indicating no change.
Trinidad and Tobago participated in one meeting of the Oslo Process to develop the convention (Wellington, New Zealand in February 2008), but did not take part in the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 or the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.
Trinidad and Tobago attended the convention’s First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 and a regional workshop on cluster munitions in Santiago, Chile in December 2013. Trinidad and Tobago participated in the convention’s Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San Jose, Costa Rica in September 2014, but did not make a statement.
Trinidad and Tobago has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, including Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[3]
Trinidad and Tobago is party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It has not joined the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Trinidad and Tobago has reported no production or stockpiling of cluster munitions.[4] It is not known to have ever used or transferred the weapons.
[1] Article 7 Report, Form A, 15 September 2014.
[2] The initial report is for the period until 30 April 2012.
[3] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 69/189, 18 December 2014. Trinidad and Tobago voted in favor of a similar resolution on 18 December 2013.
[4] Article 7 Report, Forms B and E, 15 September 2014.
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 27 April 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically took effect on 1 June 2000.[1]
Trinidad and Tobago rarely attends meetings of the treaty. It did not attend the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. However, Trinidad and Tobago did attend the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018. Trinidad and Tobago has not submitted an updated Article 7 transparency report since 2012.
Trinidad and Tobago is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. Trinidad and Tobago is party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpile
Trinidad and Tobago has never used, produced, exported, or imported antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes.
[1] Anti-Personnel Mines Act no. 48. The legislation comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel mines and provides for penal sanctions including fines of up to $50,000 (approximately US $8,000) and imprisonment of up to seven years.