This paper from Groupe de recherché et d’information sur la paix et la securite (GRIP) considers how regulations on the brokering of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) can be made consistent and effective. It urges the UN General Assembly to establish a Group of Governmental Experts on Brokering (GGE) mandated to consider an international instrument to regulate arms brokering, identify requirements for effective national brokering controls and consider controls on transportation and financial services related to brokering.
Combating illicit brokering is a global challenge, as brokers are able to exploit many weak links in the arms export control chain. Unlike other key arms trade actors, brokers operate in a regulatory void, frequently engaging in ‘third-country’ deals enabling them to circumvent national controls. Globally, 40 countries have enacted broker-specific regulations, and a number of multilateral standards have been established.
While there is a large degree of convergence, important loopholes and inconsistencies remain between the various multilateral and national regulatory standards. Areas of convergence needed at national level include:
- the establishment of domestic legal frameworks for the control of arms brokering;
- licensing of brokering activities, encompassing brokering within national territory of arms transfers between two foreign countries, and establishing penalties and criminalisation for violation of national regulations; and
- prohibition of violations of UN and other multilateral arms embargoes.
Several important arms control regulations are inconsistently applied, or remain undefined, in both national and multilateral standards, including:
- regulations on extra-territorial activities conducted by persons or entities falling under a state’s jurisdiction;
- registration of arms brokers (despite multilateral standards already emphasising the need for states to keep records of brokers and their activities);
- controls on broker-related activities such as transportation and financing services are largely absent;
- criteria for assessing whether licenses for brokering transactions should be granted or refused.
In order to development global approaches to regulating arms-brokering, the GGE should be mandated to consider:
- the feasibility of an International Instrument to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate Illicit SALW Brokering in All Its Aspects, producing a draft based on existing good practices;
- definitions of brokers and brokering-related activities that should be subject to controls, including all service providers (particularly transportation and financing agents) who may contribute to illicit diversions of SALW;
- definitions of essential minimal SALW brokering standards to include: a legal framework and sanctions for violating it, licensing requirements for brokering including confirmation of end-use, registration of brokers and an obligation to keep comprehensive records of their activities for inspection;
- international common standards on licensing criteria and prohibitions, specifying state’s commitments under international law and its integration into national legislation. This should include a minimum prohibition on brokering activities related to end-users under UN arms embargoes, possibly making violators of embargoes subject to universal jurisdiction;
- methods of strengthening exchanges of information, and increasing cooperation in combating illicit SALW brokering at national, bilateral and multilateral levels; and
- complementary control standards on SALW brokering, including mechanisms to verify the correct delivery of SALW and enhanced cooperation with the transport and financing sectors.
