Introduction
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the first global, legally binding instrument to regulate the international trade in conventional arms. As we celebrate the treaty’s first decade, we have the opportunity to reflect on the ways in which the ATT has – and has not – achieved its originating object and purpose.
The major normative achievement of the treaty’s adoption was the establishment of a connection between the regulation of the conventional arms trade and international peace, security, and stability. The ATT operationalizes this purpose (the reduction of human suffering due to illicit and irresponsible arms transfers) through the establishment of common minimum standards to regulate the global trade in conventional arms.
To ensure States Parties are complying with the ATT’s obligations, and to promote “cooperation, transparency and responsible action by States Parties in the international trade in conventional arms, thereby building confidence among States Parties,” the ATT established a framework for reporting on conventional arms transfers and national transfer control systems. States Parties to the ATT are required under Article 13(1) of the treaty to, first, provide an initial report on measures undertaken to implement the treaty, and second, to report annually to the treaty Secretariat on exports and imports of conventional arms covered under Article 2(1) that occurred during the previous calendar year.
ATT Annual Reporting Obligation
Article 13(3): Each State Party shall submit annually to the Secretariat by 31 May a report for the preceding calendar year concerning authorized or actual exports and imports of conventional arms covered under Article 2 (1). Reports shall be made available, and distributed to States Parties by the Secretariat. The report submitted to the Secretariat may contain the same information submitted by the State Party to relevant United Nations frameworks, including the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. Reports may exclude commercially sensitive or national security information.
ATT reporting has the potential to significantly enhance transparency around the global conventional arms trade. ATT annual reports deliver valuable information on State compliance with ATT obligations, provide visibility into regional and global arms flows, and assist in detecting potentially destabilizing weapons accumulations.
Now, given a total of nine years of ATT reporting, we can identify key trends and reporting approaches. This report analyzes the ATT annual reports submitted in 2024 (covering the arms exports and imports that occurred during the 2023 calendar year), as well as reporting trends across the first nine years of ATT reporting.
The report is organized into five sections. Section 1 examines the status of 2023 ATT annual report submissions and their implications for trends in reporting compliance. Section 2 provides insight into rates of private reporting, report formats, and templates, the withholding of commercially sensitive and/or national security information, “nil” reporting, and national definitions of weapons categories. Section 3 discusses States Parties’ reporting practices when preparing 2023 reports, specifically appraising whether and how States Parties reported on their arms exports and imports. Section 4 compares reporting under the ATT with reporting under the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA). The concluding section reflects on enduring challenges to ATT reporting, progress made over the past year, and the opportunities and resources the ATT community may use to support more widespread and robust reporting moving forward.
Methodology
Unless otherwise noted, the ATT reporting data reflected in this report are based on data provided by the ATT Secretariat’s website as of 8 October 2024 and from interviews with ATT Secretariat staff.1ATT Secretariat, “Annual Reports,” https://thearmstradetreaty.org/annual-reports.html?templateId=209826. Where this report provides information on the content of these reports, it does so based solely on those that are publicly available, and thus does not reflect the content of reports that States Parties chose to make available only to the Secretariat and other States Parties.2Finland submitted a “hybrid” report, in which it reported publicly on its exports and privately on its imports. As a result, the analysis in this report will be based upon the number of States Parties that reported publicly on exports (50 total 2023 reports), rather than the number of States Parties that submitted entirely public reports (49 total reports). To facilitate comparative analyses, this report also relies on UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) reporting data as provided on the UNODA and UNROCA websites as of 8 October 2024 and information gleaned from interviews with UNODA staff.3UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, “United Nations Register of Conventional Arms,” https://www.unroca.org/.; UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, “UN Register of Conventional Arms,” https://disarmament.unoda.org/convarms/register/. Percentages in this report are rounded to the nearest whole number and, as a result, may not equate to 100 percent in all cases.
Notes
- 1ATT Secretariat, “Annual Reports,” https://thearmstradetreaty.org/annual-reports.html?templateId=209826.
- 2Finland submitted a “hybrid” report, in which it reported publicly on its exports and privately on its imports. As a result, the analysis in this report will be based upon the number of States Parties that reported publicly on exports (50 total 2023 reports), rather than the number of States Parties that submitted entirely public reports (49 total reports).
- 3UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, “United Nations Register of Conventional Arms,” https://www.unroca.org/.; UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, “UN Register of Conventional Arms,” https://disarmament.unoda.org/convarms/register/.
