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Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly at Its 268th Plenary Meeting, 5 December 19491

[New York,] 6 December 1949.

[300(IV)]

Regulation and Reduction of Conventional Armaments and Armed Forces2

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 192 (III) of 19 November 1948, and in particular its recommendation that the Commission for Conventional Armaments, in carrying out its plan of work, devote its first attention to the formulation of proposals for the receipt, checking and publication, by an international organ of control within the framework of the Security Council, of full information to be supplied by Member States with regard to their effectives and their conventional armaments,

Having examined the records of the discussions in the Security Council and in the Commission for Conventional Armaments regarding the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendation,

1.
Approves the proposals formulated by the Commission for Conventional Armaments for the submission by Member States of full information on their conventional armaments and armed forces and the verification thereof, as constituting the necessary basis for the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendation;
2.
Considers that the early submission of this information would constitute an essential step towards a substantial reduction of conventional armaments and armed forces and that, on the other hand, no agreement is likely to be reached on this matter so long as each State lacks exact and authenticated information concerning the conventional armaments and armed forces of other States;
3.
Notes that unanimity among the permanent members of the Security Council, which is essential for the implementation of the above-mentioned proposals, has not yet been achieved;
4.
Recommends therefore that the Security Council, despite the lack of unanimity among its permanent members on this essential feature of its work, continue its study of the regulation and reduction of conventional armaments and armed forces through the agency of the Commission for Conventional Armaments in accordance with its plan of work, in order to make such progress as may be possible;
5.
Calls upon all members of the Security Council to co-operate to this end.

  1. General Assembly Resolution 300(IV) was adopted by a vote of 44 to 5, with 5 abstentions. Also at the 268th Meeting, the General Assembly rejected 39–6, with 9 abstentions, Soviet draft resolution A/1169 which stated that the General Assembly deemed it essential that states should supply both information on armed forces and conventional armaments and information on atomic weapons. For the record of the 268th Meeting, see GA(IV), Plenary, p. 511.↩
  2. At the 268th Meeting, the General Assembly adopted this title by a vote of 44 to 5, with 5 abstentions.↩