WMD Interdiction
E1. Maritime security, geopolitics and riskDefinition
Boarding and seizure of WMD-related shipments under PSI/SUA.
The boarding, inspection, and seizure of shipments suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems, or related materials. The legal authorities include flag-state consent, the SUA 2005 Protocol (which criminalizes the maritime transport of WMD and provides a boarding regime, Articles 8bis), UNSC Resolution 1540 (2004) obliging states to prevent proliferation, and the political framework of the Proliferation Security Initiative. Interdiction on the high seas generally needs flag-state authorization absent a treaty boarding right.
Source: SUA 2005 Protocol Article 8bis; UNSC Resolution 1540 (2004); Proliferation Security Initiative