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G-7 countries have been joined by over 200 other countries and jurisdictions in expressing support for the fight against terrorist financing. Our October 2001 Action Plan to Combat the Financing of Terrorism contributed to this international effort by setting out clear priorities: vigorous application of international sanctions, including the freezing of terrorist assets; rapid development and implementation of international standards; increased information sharing among countries; and enhanced efforts by financial supervisors to guard against the abuse of the financial sector by terrorists.
Significant results have already been achieved. Since September 11, almost 150 countries and jurisdictions have issued orders to freeze terrorist assets, and over $US 100 million has been frozen worldwide. Each G7 country is implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1373 and has signed and is committed to ratifying the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has agreed to a set of Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing and is implementing a comprehensive action plan encouraging all countries to adopt them. All G-7 countries have established or are in the process of establishing Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) that will facilitate the sharing of information on money laundering and terrorist financing. We have also all established mechanisms to share information relating to the tracking of terrorist assets.
Continued success requires even closer cooperation and an intensified commitment. We now set forth the following steps to further advance the global fight against terrorist financing.
To enhance international coordination in the freezing of terrorist assets, we will develop a mutual understanding of the information requirements and the procedures that different countries can use to undertake freezing actions. We will also develop key principles regarding the information to be shared, the procedures for sharing it, and the protection of sensitive information. We will also work with other countries to identify jointly terrorists whose assets would be subject to freezing. We will continue to review our institutional structures to ensure that they facilitate the international flow of information necessary to identify, track, and stop the flow of terrorist funds. In this regard, we support the Egmont Group's work on improved information flow among FIUs.
The G-7 are committed to fully implementing by June 2002 the FATF standards against terrorist financing. We urge all countries to accept the FATF's invitation to take part in a self-assessment and to commit to the rapid implementation of the standards. We look to the FATF, IMF and the World Bank to quickly complete their collaborative work on a framework for assessing compliance with international standards, including all FATF recommendations, against money laundering and terrorist financing. We urge all countries that have not done so by February 1, 2002, to implement the measures set out in the November 2001 Communiqué of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF, and look forward to the IMF's report to the spring meeting of the Committee on all issues raised by the Communiqué. We urge the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision to review its enhanced customer due diligence standards for banks to ensure that they address terrorist financing, and the Financial Stability Forum to review its role in combating terrorist financing, including in relation to offshore financial centres.
We look forward to the quick implementation of the IMF and World Bank plan to provide increased technical assistance for measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in coordination with the FATF, regional FATF-style bodies, the UN and the Egmont Group. For our part, G-7 countries are committed to providing technical assistance on a bilateral basis as well as through these coordination mechanisms.
We recognize that continued success in the fight against terrorist financing requires the close cooperation and unwavering commitment of the broad international community. We therefore encourage all countries to join us in implementing these measures.