Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer

Previous Editions

Barometer 2007

Barometer 2006

Barometer 2005

Barometer 2004




Guidelines

Assessing and comparing countries' export reports is complicated as their formats differ widely: from a few pages of statistics to several hundred pages of text and tables. The basic question around which the Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer is constructed is: how useful is the export report for understanding a country's small arms exports?

In preparation for the 2009 edition, the Small Arms Survey Transparency Barometer has undergone a relatively important revision. In order to assess countries' transparency in their small arms and light weapons and ammunition exports, the revised Barometer guidelines [“guidelines”] take into account:

•  National arms export reports

•  submissions to the UN Register of Conventional Arms ( new! )

•  submissions to the UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade)

The overall points distribution system has been maintained. The Barometer uses the following seven categories: (i) timeliness, (ii) access and consistency, (iii) clarity, (iv) comprehensiveness; (v) deliveries, (vi) licences granted, and (vii) licences refused.

These categories assess promptness and consistency in reporting (categories i-ii), its clarity and comprehensiveness (iii-iv), and the level of detail provided on actual deliveries, licences granted, and licences denied (v-vii).

The new Transparency Barometer guidelines award points where governments indicate that they do not export or have not exported a particular type of small arm or light weapon. This so called “nil reporting” is now considered complete information for purposes of attributing points under relevant categories of the Barometer.
It is important to stress that the Barometer evaluates the provision of arms export information, and does not seek to independently verify the veracity of that information. In other words, the Barometer assesses the quantity, precision, and usefulness of the data made public by states, but not its accuracy.

The number of countries that publicly release at least some data on their arms exports continues to increase. States that produce arms export reports generally provide the most comprehensive information, but some countries that do not (yet) publish such reports submit valuable information on their small arms transfers to the UN Register of Conventional Arms (the so-called eighth category) and/or to UN Comtrade.

Customs data (UN Comtrade), as well as the provision of “background information” on small arms and light weapons under the UN Register of Conventional Arms fill some of the gaps in many export reports, but have shortcomings of their own. First, customs codes under UN Comtrade were not designed with a definition of small arms and light weapons in mind. Some codes therefore include both small arms and light weapons and other (larger calibre) arms. (For example, the code 930120 includes both light weapons, such as grenade launchers and rocket launchers, but also items such as torpedo tubes and flame throwers.) Certain kinds of small arms and light weapons, such as MANPADS, are not included in any category. Most types of firearms and ammunition are, however, relatively well covered by the customs codes (Marsh, 2003). Second, not all state-to-state transfers are processed by customs, which obviously affects total numbers. Third, exporters and customs officials do not always interpret customs codes in the same way. For example, for the customs code 'pistols and revolvers', Brazil has consistently reported 'nil', although import data from other countries suggests that it exports large quantities of these weapons. One assumes therefore that Brazilian handguns are (mis-)classified under some other heading (Lessing, 2003). Notwithstanding these limitations, customs data probably offers the most important means of developing a general picture of the small arms trade.

By taking account of three different information sources (export reports, reporting to the UN Register, and international customs data), the Barometer allows states to compensate for the weaknesses of specific transparency tools. It is also important to note that, because of its focus on small arms and light weapons exports, the Barometer cannot be used as a general measure of transparency for all arms exports. It includes only those countries that have exported small arms and light weapons of a value equal to or greater than 10 million USD on at least one occasion since 2001. As a result, its focus is mainly—although not exclusively—on the countries of western and Eastern Europe as well as North America , where the most important exporters are found.

As the Barometer demonstrates, the most transparent small arms exporters are those states that both publish export reports and release their international customs data. At the top of the list in the 2008 Barometer are the United States and Italy, with scores of 21 and 20 points (out of 25) respectively. The average score of all of the countries evaluated in the 2008 Barometer is 12.25. This rather low average means that the vast majority of states, including those scoring better than average, still have some way to go before achieving full transparency in their export reporting.

A complete explanation of the methodology employed for the 2008 Transparency Barometer can be found on pp. 137 – 42 in the Small Arms Survey 2008. The methodology for the 2009 Barometer, including all changes, will be published in the 2009 edition of the Survey [and posted on our website in 2009].