Topic: Conflict Commodities
Country: Romania
Delegate Name: Malcolm Bean
School: Whittier Classical Academy
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Romania position papers GLIMUN 2007 committees
The definition of a conflict commodity is any imported or exported good that creates revenue for war related issues through the purchase of said item. Examples of such commodities are oil, natural gas, and diamonds. Another conflict commodity that has been increasing recently, especially in Latin America, is narcotics. Of late our country has fallen victim to the drug market and is almost powerless against it. Heroin smugglers from Southeast Asia travel through Romania and use it as a staging area for shipments and refining. Major shipments of drugs from Latin America are routed through Romania to the rest of Eastern Europe. This is a monumental problem that the national and local Romanian government is trying to fix.
Romania and her people are attempting to end our part of the drug problem; which has been directly tied to Latin American wars and terrorist cells in Southeast Asia, by increasing punishment for possession and dealing. Also, we have increased our border security, particularly in the Balkan Pass, almost three-fold in an attempt to keep any and all illegally acquired items or conflict commodities out. Also, people found in possession of drugs or any other commodities used to fund wars of any magnitude are facing harsher and harsher punishments.
Romania wishes to see this issue resolved by an increased regional regulation of commodity control. By that we mean every commodity exported should have a thorough background check or pedigree before being sold on the international market. In a day and age when disease, terrorist concerns and fraud are so prevalent, this is simply common sense. Who better to monitor such a program than the UN? Also we would like to see at every major import conduit, a third party NGO observer who monitors the commodities coming in.
The allies of Romania are those who would see the end of trafficking of any commodity illegally obtained or used to fund illegal and immoral activities, and who are willing to act against these international crimes that are almost at epidemic proportions. Our adversaries are those who will sit back and take no action or even worse encourage and utilize the use of conflict commodities and destroy whole regional economies in the process.
