Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Preamble
- Article 1 Object and Purpose
- Article 2 Scope
- Article 3 Ammunition/Munitions
- Article 4 Parts and Components
- Article 5 General Implementation
- Article 6 Prohibitions
- Article 7 Export and Export Assessment
- Article 8 Import
- Article 9 Transit or Trans-Shipment
- Article 10 Brokering
- Article 11 Diversion
- Article 12 Record Keeping
- Article 13 Reporting
- Article 14 Enforcement
- Article 15 International Cooperation
- Article 16 International Assistance
- Article 17 Conference of States Parties
- Article 18 Secretariat
- Article 19 Dispute Settlement
- Article 20 Amendments
- Article 21 Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval or Accession
- Article 22 Entry into Force
- Article 23 Provisional Application
- Article 24 Duration and Withdrawal
- Article 25 Reservations
- Article 26 Relationship with Other International Agreements
- Article 27 Depositary
- Article 28 Authentic Texts
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 December 2021
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Preamble
- Article 1 Object and Purpose
- Article 2 Scope
- Article 3 Ammunition/Munitions
- Article 4 Parts and Components
- Article 5 General Implementation
- Article 6 Prohibitions
- Article 7 Export and Export Assessment
- Article 8 Import
- Article 9 Transit or Trans-Shipment
- Article 10 Brokering
- Article 11 Diversion
- Article 12 Record Keeping
- Article 13 Reporting
- Article 14 Enforcement
- Article 15 International Cooperation
- Article 16 International Assistance
- Article 17 Conference of States Parties
- Article 18 Secretariat
- Article 19 Dispute Settlement
- Article 20 Amendments
- Article 21 Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval or Accession
- Article 22 Entry into Force
- Article 23 Provisional Application
- Article 24 Duration and Withdrawal
- Article 25 Reservations
- Article 26 Relationship with Other International Agreements
- Article 27 Depositary
- Article 28 Authentic Texts
Summary
THE PAST
The idea behind the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was to establish a treaty setting out global standards for the international trade in conventional arms, and in doing so provide a new multilateral framework for transparency and accountability in that trade: one that would also be a powerful new tool in efforts to prevent gross human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. We are now on that path.
The adoption of the ATT by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 2 April 2013 and its entry into force on 24 December 2014 is a tribute to the work of civil society and an enormous amount of methodical and well-crafted diplomacy by many States and individuals, in particular Ambassador Roberto Moritán.
The roots of the ATT can be traced to the late 1990s and the beginnings of a civil society campaign supported by a group of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates led by Dr. Oscar Arias, the former President of Costa Rica (this group included Elie Wiesel, Betty Williams, José Ramos-Horta, representatives of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Amnesty International and the American Friends Service Committee). In 2006, seven governments sponsored the first UN General Assembly resolution on the Arms Trade Treaty. The resolution recognized that the absence of common international standards on the import, export and transfer of conventional arms was a contributory factor to conflict, the displacement of people, crime and terrorism, as well as to the undermining of peace, reconciliation, safety, security, stability and sustainable development. These seven governments, known as the ‘co-authors’ – Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan, Kenya and United Kingdom – led this resolution every year through to 2013.
The road from 2006 to 2013 was not straightforward. States approached the negotiations from a wide range of perspectives. Exporting States saw the treaty as a framework to allow their defence industries to participate more transparently in the legitimate international arms trade. They also recognized the value of industries operating internationally under an agreed set of standards.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Arms Trade TreatyWeapons and International Law, pp. 1 - 4Publisher: IntersentiaPrint publication year: 2021