The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is the first global treaty to establish legally binding standards regulating the international arms trade. The ATT, when effectively implemented, will increase global transparency and promote greater accountability for global arms transfers. The ATT was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in April 2013. On 25 September 2014, the treaty reached the 50 ratifications required to initiate entry into force, which will occur on 24 December 2014. States Parties need to have the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure that they are able to meet the treaty’s obligations upon entry into force. To prepare, States must assess their current arms transfer control systems and identify capacity and resource needs to ensure that their systems are capable of fulfilling treaty obligations. Many States, however, are uncertain about whether their existing arms transfer control systems fulfill ATT requirements. These States, therefore, seek guidance on what resources they may need to ensure effective implementation. The ATT-Baseline Assessment Project (ATT-BAP) has been working with States to enable them to identify this type of information and provide clear guidance on the treaty’s provisions.
The Arms Trade Treaty
- The ATT regulates the cross-border trade in conventional arms, ranging from fighter aircraft and warships to small arms and light weapons.
- The ATT establishes common international standards for the global arms trade that States must incorporate into their national transfer control systems.
- The ATT bans arms shipments that violate UN arms embargoes or that could be used to commit genocide, war crimes, attacks on civilians, and other crimes against humanity.
- The ATT outlines specific criteria for States to apply when making arms transfer decisions.
- The ATT requires consideration of the risk that arms being transferred may be used to facilitate gender-based violence or violence against women and children when making arms transfer decisions.
- The ATT currently has 121 signatories and 53 ratifications.
- The ATT will enter into force on 24 December 2014.
Introducing ATT-BAP
The ATT consists of a list of obligations for establishing and maintaining an effective and transparent transfer control system to ensure responsible arms transfers, but it does not provide detailed instructions for how States Parties should pursue such efforts. ATT-BAP was designed to contribute towards efforts undertaken by States, international and regional organizations, and civil society to address this gap. In particular ATT-BAP is intended to:
- Give clear guidance on the obligations contained within the ATT;
- Increase understanding of measures that can be taken to ensure that States are in a position to ratify the ATT and ensure effective implementation;
- Contribute towards targeted and coordinated international assistance by providing information to help avoid duplication and ensure that scarce resources are utilized most effectively;
- Deliver a baseline assessment of States’ abilities to effectively implement the ATT; and
- Provide indicators for future measurement of the treaty’s impact.