New podcast on explosive precursor chemicals regulation

The dual-use nature of explosive precursor chemicals (EPCs) makes implementing counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) measures complicated. These chemicals are misused to manufacture improvised explosives and their diversion poses a significant challenge to national and international efforts aimed at preventing the proliferation of IEDs. Many EPCs, however, are critical components in industrial, commercial, and agricultural work, and restrictions—if not considerate of stakeholders in legitimate supply chains—risk negatively impacting key industries. 

In Regulating Explosive Precursor Chemicals—the latest Small Arms Survey podcast episode—Manon Blancafort and Paul Amoroso discuss how effective EPC regulation requires constant vigilance, periodic review and when necessary, updating of threat lists, persistent clear communication, stakeholder engagement, and international collaboration.

Small Arms Survey podcasts are available via our Resource Library as well as Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

This podcast was made possible by support from the German Federal Foreign Office.

For more, check out:

• Out of Control: The Trafficking of Improvised Explosive Device Components and Commercial Explosives in West Africa (November 2023)—a Report that analyses data from more than 2,200 IED-related incidents between March 2013 and September 2022, and stresses the importance of coordinated regional approaches in eliminating illegal IED use in West and Central Africa.
• Improving Point of Injury Trauma Care for IED Victims (November 2024)—a Briefing Paper that examines the challenges facing the inclusion of emergency care as a priority within victim assistance and counter-improvised explosive devices (C-IED) strategies, and presents the need for a comprehensive, whole-of-society approach to C-IED, which supports emergency care for civilian IED victims in low-resource settings.
• Other outputs discussing IEDs in our Resource Library

Other news from the Survey:

• New SANA Briefing Paper on security, ideology, and firearms in Lebanon and Tunisia
• Statement from the Small Arms Survey at the Preparatory Meeting of States on the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management
• New hub for the Survey's work related to the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management
• New blog post on ammunition seizures in the Caribbean and what they mean for public health
• New infographic on the regional profiles of illicit small-calibre ammunition (2015-2021)
• New Survey Briefing Paper and How-to guide on national action plans
• New HSBA Briefing Paper on the politics of violence in South Sudan