The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) aims to promote cooperation, transparency, and responsibility in the international arms trade. Implementation and universalization of the ATT remain core objectives for States Parties and the ATT Secretariat. However, implementation of the ATT varies across regions.
There are 43 States in the Asia-Pacific region. Many of these States are separated by vast oceans, with porous borders vulnerable to the illicit arms trade. This is of particular importance as arms imports are increasing in the region, with Asian States strengthening their national defense capacities and Pacific States strengthening their abilities to contribute to peacekeeping missions. The Pacific has largely preserved its peaceful environment, avoiding large flows of illicit arms into the sub-region. The Solomon Islands, a member of the G7+ fragile states, is seeking to rearm a small group of its security forces 14 years after tensions erupted on the islands. Thus, as the risk of arms flowing into the region looms, the need to engage the region on ATT ratification and implementation becomes ever more pressing.
Six States in the region are ATT States Parties: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Samoa, South Korea, and Tuvalu. Most of these States were among the first to join the Treaty. Eleven States in the region are signatories of the Treaty (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nauru, Palau, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vanuatu). Other States in the region have signaled their intent to accede, including Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
Although the Asia-Pacific region has a small number of States Parties, the region is not necessarily behind on implementation of the ATT’s obligations. Many States already have practices in place that meet ATT standards. However, the process of ratification is slow in the region, resulting in a low level of representation among the ATT States Parties. The pace of ratification for States in the region is slow for two main reasons: 1) it is not a priority issue and 2) there are capacity and resource challenges. States in the Asia-Pacific region place high value on having the appropriate resources and capacity to implement a treaty in full compliance prior to becoming a States Party. This is not to say other regions and countries do not place the same high value on fulfilling their ATT obligations before ratifying, but rather, in the Asia-Pacific region, officials must demonstrate their full compliance before generating the political will to join a treaty. Therefore, it can be a slow political process for Asia-Pacific States, hindered in some cases by human resource constraints, in other cases by a lack of political will.
One way to gauge implementation of the ATT in the Asia-Pacific region is to utilize data provided by States in the two types of reports that States Parties are required to produce in compliance with Article 13 of the ATT:
- an initial report on measures undertaken to implement the ATT, which must be completed and submitted at least once (within the first year of entry into force for that State), and which must be updated as regulations and policies change; and
- an annual report containing information on authorizations or actual exports and imports of the eight categories of conventional arms contained in Article 2(1) of the Treaty that took place during the previous calendar year (i.e. annual reports submitted before 31 May 2016 provide information on international arms transfers and authorizations that took place between 1 January and 31 December 2015).
This ATT-Baseline Assessment Project (ATT-BAP) report analyzes the initial and annual reports that were received by the Secretariat by 15 May 2017 for the following countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Samoa. Tuvalu missed its initial reporting deadline of 3 December 2016. During a regional meeting held in Samoa in September 2016, Tuvalu remarked that it would not be able to meet this reporting deadline due to capacity issues.