The 10th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

1. Second Minister for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli attended the 10th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 29 to 30 September 2015. He was accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Singapore Police Force, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, the Central Narcotics Bureau and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore.

2. The 10th AMMTC adopted the ASEAN Convention to Combat, Prevent and Suppress Trafficking in Persons (ACTIP) and the ASEAN Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (APA). Both documents are scheduled to be tabled for approval at the ASEAN Leaders' Summit in November 2015. This reaffirms ASEAN's commitment to combating Trafficking in Persons (TIP). The Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Combating Transnational Crime was also adopted.

3. Singapore also acceded to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (UN TIP Protocol) on 28 September 2015 during the UN Treaty Event held in New York from 28 September to 1 October 2015.

4. At the 7th AMMTC+3 Consultations, Second Minister Masagos urged ASEAN Member States to consider submitting a joint ASEAN Statement against the legalisation and commercialisation of illicit drugs at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on World Drug Problem in Apr 2016 and urged ASEAN's Dialogue Partners China, Japan and Korea to stand with ASEAN on this issue as we present the ASEAN Statement at the UNGASSWDP.

5. Second Minister Masagos also co-chaired the 4th AMMTC + China Consultations with Deputy Minister of Public Security Chen Zhi Min on 30 September, during which the ASEAN-China Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Non-Traditional Security Issues was renewed for another six years. This signals the continued commitment of China and the ASEAN Member States to collaborate to combat transnational crime.

6. During the AMMTC, Second Minister Masagos and other ASEAN Ministers called on Malaysian DPM and Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Second Minister Masagos also held bilateral meetings with Brunei's Minister of Energy in the Prime Minister's Office Pehin Yasmin Umar, Vietnam's Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang and Japan's Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission/Minister of State for Disaster Management Eriko Yamatani, to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Issued by:

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

1 October 2015

Second Minister for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli shaking hands with Malaysian DPM and Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the 10th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.