10. Dual-use and arms trade controls

Chapter:

10. Dual-use and arms trade controls

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2019

Author(s):

Mark Bromley

Global, multilateral and regional efforts continued in 2018 to strengthen controls on the trade in conventional arms and in dual-use items connected with conventional, biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. Membership of the different international and multilateral instruments that seek to establish and promote agreed standards for the trade in arms and dual-use items remained stable following recent expansions. At the same time, there were growing signs that the strength of these instruments is being increasingly tested by stretched national resources. This could be seen in the shortfalls in compliance with mandated reporting under the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the many reported violations of United Nations arms embargoes and the difficulties in finding states willing to act as chair of some of the export control regimes. Broader geostrategic tensions and the rapid pace of technological advances are also eroding international consensus on both the broader purpose and the effectiveness of export controls. This was visible in differences between the United States and the European Union (EU) and within the EU about what goals export controls should be seeking to achieve, as well as in the growing interest in using other mechanisms—particularly controls on foreign direct investment (FDI)—as a means of tackling proliferation and other national security objectives.