On 9 March 2018, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean presented the Dominican Republic their National Focus List for effective implementation of UNSCR 1540. The event was organized by UNLIREC with the generous financial support from the Government of Canada.
The National Focus List is intended as a subset to a comprehensive Control List, providing the front line trade control officials with an operative, easy-access tool for enhanced control over strategic trade. The List was developed in close cooperation with national authorities of the Dominican Republic and with the generous financial support from the Government of Canada.
The National Focus List is a closed list of dual-use items that may be of weapons of mass destruction proliferation concern. The List is based on an analysis of the Dominican trade patterns, volumes, and values over the years 2012-2016. As such, the document is a tailor-made Resolution 1540 implementation tool specifically designed to reflect the unique national context of the Dominican Republic. The purpose of the Focus List is to facilitate the practical implementation of the national control list in order to regulate the trade of goods and technology considered to be of international proliferation concern.
The National Focus List derives from UNLIREC´s previous work on developing regional Control and Focus Lists for the Caribbean. UNLIREC has developed a step-by-step methodology piloted in Dominican Republic at the national level, which can be independently implemented by other countries in the region in developing their national focus lists.