Malta signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 4 December 1997. It has not yet ratified the treaty, though may do so by September 2000. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that Malta would ratify as soon as the legislation had passed through the Cabinet and Parliament.[1] Malta participated in the First Meeting of States Parties to the MBT in May 1999, where its ambassador to Mozambique, Miguel de Brangança, asserted that "the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is ready to be associated with any international action directed at obtaining legal and practical measures that can resolve the problem of landmines and that this work must constitute the first aim of this Conference."[2] Since then Malta has taken part in three intersessional meetings of the MBT: the Standing Committee of Experts on Mine Clearance, Victim Assistance, and General Status and Operation of the Convention.
Malta voted in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolutions supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in 1996, 1997, and 1998, and co-sponsored and voted for the December 1999 pro-ban resolution. It does not possess, produce, transfer, or use antipersonnel landmines and is not mine-affected. As of September 1999, it had donated $1,952 to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.[3] It is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but has not ratified the Amended Protocol II; it was an observer at the First Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol in December 1999.
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[1] Interview with Tony Borg, Department of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Valletta, 2 June 1999.
[2] Statement of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta by Ambassador Miguel de Brangança, Ambassador of Malta to Mozambique, First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Maputo, Mozambique, May 1999.
[3] “Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action: Total Contributions By Donor, October 1994 to September 1999,” Table, UN Mine Action Service.