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Combating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons: Enhancing Controls on Legal Transfers.
Saferworld
Saferworld
Publication Date
2001
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© 2001 British American Security Information Council (BASIC), International Alert and Saferworld. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk).
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Abstract
A prerequisite for effective international action to prevent and combat the illicit trade in small
arms and light weapons (SALW) is that states develop a common understanding of what
constitutes the ¿legal¿ trade and therefore what is ¿illicit¿. At the same time, failure to exert
e ffective control over the legal trade in SALW opens up possibilities for diversion to illicit markets
and end-users and blurs the lines between the legal and illicit trade. All governments are
potential suppliers of SALW, since even those with no manufacturing capacity will have the
potential to export surplus weapons once owned by their police and/or armed forces. A major
concern for the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its
Aspects should thus be to define clear parameters for and to agree on a comprehensive
mechanism for controlling the legal trade in these weapons.
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published version paper
Citation
British American Security Information Council (BASIC), International Alert and Saferworld (2001). Combating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons: Enhancing Controls on Legal Transfers. London: British American Security Information Council (BASIC), International Alert and Saferworld. Biting the Bullet Briefing Papers. Briefing 6.
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Briefing Paper