Report

Lessons Learned from ATT Reporting (2019)

Analysis of Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) initial and annual reporting as of 2019 for insight into reporting trends, common challenges, and best practices

As a mechanism to ensure States understand and enforce their treaty obligations, regular and comprehensive initial and annual reporting is a cornerstone of ATT implementation. The Arms Trade Treaty Baseline Assessment Project (ATT-BAP) conducted research and analysis on five years of ATT reporting practices to gain insight into the processes for compiling and submitting ATT initial and annual reports. This report summarizes common reporting trends, details the challenges States encounter in completing both types of reports, and provides a series of best practices that States can adopt to support ATT reporting completion and compliance.

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

Full Report (PDF)

Introduction

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a landmark agreement representing the first legally binding instrument to regulate the international trade in conventional weapons. The treaty aims to reduce human suffering and promote cooperation, transparency, and responsibility in the global arms trade by establishing common standards for regulating arms transfers. Reporting under the ATT serves as a key mechanism for advancing these aims and monitoring treaty implementation as well as the application and understanding of States’ treaty obligations. Reporting under the ATT serves several functions related to understanding States Parties national practices as well as the patterns and dynamics of global arms flows.

Article 13 of the ATT requires States Parties to complete and submit two reports to the ATT Secretariat. First, the treaty requires States Parties to complete an initial report on treaty implementation, to be completed within one year of the treaty’s entry into force for a given State Party. The treaty also requires States Parties to complete an annual report on arms exports and imports from the previous calendar year.

As of 1 January 2019, 92 of the 100 States Parties to the ATT were required to submit an initial report on treaty implementation and 89 States Parties were required to submit an annual report containing information on arms exports and imports conducted during the 2017 calendar year. Reporting requirements are based on entry into force for each State Party, so not all States Parties have their reports due at the same time. Reporting compliance rates vary, and many States Parties continue to experience difficulties meeting their ATT reporting requirements. Indeed, the Working Group on Transparency and Reporting, which was established at the second Conference of States Parties to support reporting efforts among States Parties and facilitate greater reporting compliance, has repeatedly identified the need to improve reporting compliance as a priority issue.

This ATT-BAP analysis examines trends in ATT reporting to identify good practices as well as challenges to comprehensive reporting. The report is divided into five sections. Section one describes the methodology used for assessing States’ reporting experiences. Section two describes trends in ATT reporting for both the initial report and annual report. Section three examines challenges to initial and annual reporting efforts and section four highlights good practices that could mitigate some reporting challenges and support ATT reporting completion and compliance. The fifth and final section offers a series of recommendations to improve ATT reporting efforts.