Bill Clinton: “Plastic Explosives for Detection June 29, 1993 To the Senate of the United States: I transmit herewith, for the advice…”

“Plastic Explosives for Detection June 29, 1993 To the Senate of the United States: I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection with Technical Annex, done at Montreal on March 1, 1991. The report of the Department of State is also enclosed for the information of the Senate. The terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 in December 1988 with the resultant deaths of 270 (including 189 Americans), and the terrorist bombing of UTA flight 772 in September 1989 with the resultant deaths of 171 (including 7 Americans), dramatically demonstrate the threat posed by virtually undetectable plastic explosives in the hands of those nations and groups that engage in terrorist savagery. This Convention is aimed at precluding such incidents from recurring, as well as others where plastic explosives are utilized, by requiring States that produce plastic explosives to mark them at the time of manufacture with a substance to enhance their detectability by commercially available mechanical or canine detectors. States are also required to ensure that controls are implemented over the sale, use, and disposition of marked and unmarked plastic explosives. Work on the Convention began in January 1990 under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on the basis of an initial draft prepared by a special subcommittee of the ICAO Legal Committee.…”