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The Arms Trade Treaty

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Scott Stedjan
Scott Stedjan*
Affiliation:
Senior Policy Advisor at Oxfam America and Editor-in-Chief of the Penn State Journal of Law and International Affairs
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Extract

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), open for signature on June 3, 2013, is the first ever multilateral treaty on the global trade in conventional arms. It establishes common standards for the $40 billion legal international trade of weapons and seeks to reduce the illicit arms trade.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 985 - 997
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2013

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References

1 Richard, F. Grimmitt & Paul, K. Kerr, Cong. Research Serv., R42678, Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2004–2011 3–4 (2012)Google Scholar (“The value of all arms transfer agreements worldwide . . . in 2011 was $85.3 billion. This was an extraordinary increase in arms agreements values (91.7%) over the 2010 total of $44.5 billion . . . . The value of all international arms deliveries in 2011 was nearly $44.3 billion.”).

2 See, e.g., Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials, Nov. 14, 1997, 37 I.L.M. 143, http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/a-63.html; European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, DG E – PESC IV, June 5, 1998, E.U. Doc. 8675/2/98, http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/08675r2en8.pdf; Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, May 31, 2001, U.N. Doc. A/55/383/Add.2, 2326 U.N.T.S. 208; Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, Report of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, July 9–20, 2001, ch. IV, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.192/15, http://cns.miis.edu/inventory/pdfs/aptsarms.pdf; Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, July 2004, http://www.wassenaar.org/2003Plenary/initial_elements2003.htm.

3 Louis, Charbonneau, UN Arms Embargoes Don’t Work, Arms Treaty Needed: Rights Groups , Reuters, Mar. 19, 2013 Google Scholar, http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/19/us-armstreaty-un-idUSBRE92I1A120130319.

4 Deepayan, Basu Ray, Oxfam, The Devil is in the Detail: The Importance of Comprehensive and Legally Binding Criteria for ArmsTransfers 6 n. 3 (2012)Google Scholar, http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/tb-devil-detail-arms-trade-treaty-030512-en.pdf.

5 See U.N. Secretary General, The Arms Trade Treaty: Rep. of the Secretary-General, July 20, 2011, U.N. Doc. A/66/166 (citing views of member States on the need for an Arms Trade Treaty).

6 See Sarah, Parker, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Implications of States’ Views on an Arms Trade Treaty (2008)Google Scholar, http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?ots591_0c54e3b3-1e9c-be1e-2c24-a6a8c7060233&lng_en&id_55665 (a detailed history of efforts toward an Arms Trade Treaty).

7 G.A. Res. 61/89, U.N. GAOR 61st Sess., U.N. Doc. A/RES/61/89 (Dec. 18, 2006), http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol_A/RES/61/89&Lang=E.

8 G.A. Res. 64/48, U.N. GAOR 64th Sess., U.N. Doc. A/RES/64/48 (Jan. 12, 2010), http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol_A/res/64/48&Lang=E.

9 Rick, Gladstone, U.N. Misses Its Deadline for Arms Pact, N.Y. Times, July 27, 2012 Google Scholar, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/28/world/proponents-of-arms-trade-treaty-urge-final-approval.html?_r=0.

10 Id.

11 Press Statement, United States State Department Office of the Spokesperson, Arms Trade Treaty Conference (July 27, 2012)Google Scholar, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/07/195622.htm.

12 G.A. Res. 67/234 A, U.N. GAOR 67th Sess., U.N. Doc. A/RES/67/234 (Jan. 4, 2013), http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol_A/RES/67/234.

13 Id. ¶ 7.

14 G.A. Res. 67/234 B, U.N. GAOR 67th Sess., U.N. Doc. A/RES/67/234 B (Jan. 4, 2013), http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol_A/RES/67/234(B)&Lang=E.

15 Press Release, United Nations, Overwhelming Majority of States in General Assembly Say “Yes” to Arms Trade Treaty (Apr. 2, 2013), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/ga11354.doc.htm.

16 See e.g., UN Arms Trade Treaty Should Be Reached Through Consensus: China, Xinhua, Apr. 2, 2013, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/03/c_132280376.htm.

17 The categories of arms listed include: battle tanks; armored combat vehicles; large-caliber artillery systems; combat aircraft; attack helicopters; warships; missiles and missile launchers; small arms and light weapons; ammunition fired, launched or delivered by the arms listed above; and associated parts and components. Arms Trade Treaty, art. 2, Apr. 2, 2013, http://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/2013/04/20130410%2012-01%20PM/Ch_XXVI_08.pdf.

18 Id. at art. 5.3.

19 Id. at Preamble.

20 Id. at art. 7.

21 Id. at art. 7.4.

22 Press Release, United Nations, New Round of Negotiations Gets Under Way to Reach Consensus on Binding Treaty to Control Cross-Border Trade (Mar. 8, 2013), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/dc3420.doc.htm (“While the international arms trade affected every country, more than 100 States today did not have a system for control of international conventional arms transfers.”).

23 Arms Trade Treaty, supra note 17, at art. 14.

24 Id. at art. 22.