Transfers

Transfers of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition occur on an authorized basis as well as illicitly, between states, from states to non-state actors, and between non-state actors. While the UN Programme of Action explicitly focuses on the goal to "Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects," the links between the authorized and the illicit trade are less well-studied, and transparency on authorized transfers is often lacking.

Information on authorized transfers is provided by the UN Comtrade database, national arms export reports, and other sources. The Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer, introduced by the Small Arms Survey in 2004, is an important tool for assessing countries' reporting practices as regards transparency. On illicit transfers the Small Arms Survey has conducted a series of case studies. Transfers of small arms ammunition are of particular importance, since ammunition is crucial in fuelling conflict once the corresponding weapons are in place. Further issues include transfers measures and brokering.
 
 
 

Authorized Transfers

The Small Arms Survey estimates the total value of the authorized trade in small arms to be USD 4 billion a year.

UN Comtrade, National Arms Export Reports, and Other Sources

The main sources on authorized transfers of small arms, light weapons, and their ammunition are customs data from UN Comtrade and national arms export reports. For the years 1999-2003, total annual values of authorized exports as reported to UN Comtrade were around USD 2 billion. This value is very likely underestimated as a result of underreporting. A number of countries publish national arms export reports, which differ considerably regarding comprehensiveness and level of detail.

Transparency

Transparency is a crucial issue for preventing undesirable transfers of small arms and light weapons as well as the diversion of these weapons to the illicit market. The Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer assesses factors such as timeliness, access, clarity, comprehensiveness, and information on deliveries and licenses in countries' reporting on their small arms exports. It includes reporting to UN Comtrade as well as national arms export reports.
 
 
 

Illicit Transfers

The legal and the illicit markets for small arms and light weapons - domestic as well as international - are linked by virtue of the fact that weapons can be diverted from the legal into the illicit realm. Diversion includes government supplies to armed non-state groups, violation of arms embargoes, violation of end-user agreements, ant trade, diversion from government or authorized private stockpiles, and battlefield seizures and war booty. Information on illicit cross-border transfers is generally hard to come by. The Small Arms Survey has based its analysis of illicit transfers on seizure data from customs, police, and military as well as on news, NGO, and UN reports.

In the case of South America, the harmonization of domestic small arms control laws appears to be of paramount importance as legal flaws in neighbouring countries are used by criminals in order to purchase and smuggle small arms across national borders. Stockpile diversion is a serious problem, in addition to illicit transfers of small arms from different parts of the world.

In Europe, Australia, and Canada, an examination of customs seizure data tentatively indicates that cross-border trafficking of small arms is mostly small-scale and involves handguns in larger proportions than other weapons.
 
 
 

National Arms Export Reports

A number of countries as well as the European Union publish official data on arms exports, arms export licenses or both, many of them providing data on small arms exports. These reports are provided in pdf format, downloadable.
 
 
 

Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer

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? Find the barometers of 2004 to 2006, as well as a description of the methodology, here.