'As it enters its tenth year, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) stands as one of the newest multilateral initiatives seeking to address the impact of the global arms trade.

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is the first legally binding agreement linking international conventional arms transfers to gender-based violence (GBV), but there has been limited practical application of these specific provisions to date.

Adopted on 2 April 2013 by an overwhelming majority of states in the UN General Assembly, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a milestone in the global regulation of the arms trade, but is not without its flaws. Small Arms Survey senior researchers Glenn McDonald and Sarah Parker, both participants in the treaty negotiations, discuss the development of the ATT, and the strengths and weaknesses of the final result.

This Guide is designed to assist and inform those responsible for implementing the ATT at the national level. It provides practical guidance on the following thematic areas: national control systems; national control lists; export controls; import controls; transit and trans-shipment controls; controlling brokers and brokering; diversion; record-keeping; and reporting. The manual includes definitions and terminology, a brief history of the ATT negotiations, options for regulating transfers, and information on the roles of various ministries and agencies.
 

On 2 April 2013 the UN General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), an international instrument designed to regulate the transfer of conventional arms, including small arms and light weapons. The ATT opens for signature on 3 June 2013, and it will come into effect 90 days after being ratified by 50 UN member states.

United Nations Member States will meet in New York this week for the UN Preparatory Committee for the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA PrepCom). The objective of this meeting is to prepare the agenda for the Second PoA Review Conference (to be held in August and September), which will assess progress made in meeting the wide-ranging commitments laid out by the PoA to address the problem of small arms proliferation and misuse.