9. Conventional arms control

Chapter:

9. Conventional arms control

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2018

Author(s):

Dan Smith

The regulation of different categories of weapons as a means of trying to improve compliance with international humanitarian law has become an important theme in conventional arms control. However, participation in humanitarian arms control agreements is far from universal and states parties to such agreements still face many implementation challenges. According to some states and civil society groups, there are also gaps in humanitarian arms control and disarmament law that need to be addressed. In 2017, negotiations to address some of these challenges continued within the framework of the 1981 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW Convention), see section I; the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti‑Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (APM Convention), see section II; and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which is discussed in section III.