On 13 May Hugh Griffiths (right), head of SIPRI's Countering Illicit Trafficking–Mechanism Assessment Projects (CIT-MAP), briefed a meeting of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Operational Experts Group (OEG) at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
The US Department of State describes the PSI as 'a global effort that aims to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern'.
The only representative from a non-governmental organization in attendance at the meeting (which included approximately 100 diplomats, law enforcement and military officials drawn from 21 PSI OEG member states), Griffiths presented SIPRI's proliferation vessel and voyage risk assessment findings.
He also outlined a new SIPRI project entitled Engaging Transport Service Providers as Counter-Proliferation Partners, which is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and invited PSI OEG states to participate in the project, which seeks to leverage industry cooperation in counter-proliferation activities in 2014 and 2015.
Read more about CIT-MAP.
Download the SIPRI Policy Paper by Aaron Dunne, The Proliferation Security Initiative: Legal Considerations and Operational Realities.