The Kingdom of the Netherlands signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 12 April 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 October 1999. The Netherlands is a former antipersonnel mine producer and importer. The government announced a unilateral ban on use in March 1996. The Netherlands believes that existing legislation is sufficient to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically. In 2011, it submitted its 11^th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.

Between 1996 and 2002 the Netherlands destroyed its stockpile of 254,798 antipersonnel mines. The Netherlands initially retained 4,076 mines for training and development purposes but this number was reduced to 1,830 by the end of 2011.[1]

The Netherlands was appointed as the co-rapporteur of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education, and Mine Action technologies at the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in November-December 2011. In the past, the Netherlands served as co-rapporteur and then co-chair of the Standing Committees on Mine Clearance (1999–2001) and the General Status and Operation of the Convention (2002–2004).

At the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, the Netherlands stated that it contributes approximately €15 million (approximately US$21 million) annually to mine clearance and reiterated its intention to remain a large international donor in this field.[2] The Netherlands also attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2012, where it provided information on the use and purpose of the mines it retains for training and research.[3]

The Netherlands is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.