Reporting on and monitoring implementation of an ATT: Lessons learned from existing transparency measures

Arms Transfer Researchers: Paul Holtom, Mark Bromley, Henning Weber

Funder: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway

Timeline: Dec. 2010 - Jul. 2011

This project was intended to help ensure that a future Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) consolidates and strengthen levels of public transparency in international arms transfers and arms export policies. It will provided a comprehensive overview of reporting mechanisms on international arms transfers and export controls as well as non-governmental monitoring efforts in this field. In addition, the study analysed how these experiences can be used to inform the implementation of effective systems of reporting and monitoring under an ATT.

The first project outputs were SIPRI Factsheets providing an overview of national reports on arms exports (published in March 2011) and reporting to the UN Register of Conventional Arms (published in May 2011). The main project output was a SIPRI Policy Paper entitled  'Implementing an Arms Trade Treaty: Lessons on Reporting and Monitoring from Existing Mechanisms' (published in July 2011). The Policy Paper was launched at a side-event which took place on 13 July 2011 during the third Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on an Arms Trade Treaty organised by the Permanent Missions of Norway and Mexico to the United Nations and SIPRI.

The Policy Paper provides the first comprehensive overview of existing UN instruments that require states to report on their arms transfers, transfer controls and enforcement measures. It outlines the types of information required to assess compliance with an ATT, extracts lessons learned from the existing instruments and identifies areas of duplication. By highlighting the challenges that states face when reporting to existing mechanisms, providing constructive solutions and emphasizing the positive contributions to be made by non-governmental organizations, this report lays the foundation for a relevant and robust ATT reporting mechanism.