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Publication

Combating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons: Enhancing Controls on Legal Transfers.

Saferworld
Publication Date
2001
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Rights
© 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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yes
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Accepted for publication
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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.
Version
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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Type
Briefing Paper
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