ATT (Arms Trade Treaty)

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is the first legally binding global instrument to regulate the cross-border trade in conventional weapons. It was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 2 April 2013 (resolution 67/234 B), opened for signature on 3 June 2013, and entered into force on 24 December 2014 after reaching the 50-ratification threshold.

The treaty covers eight categories of conventional arms drawn largely from the UN Register of Conventional Arms: battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons. It also covers ammunition, parts and components.

Core obligations include:

• Article 6 prohibitions on transfers that would violate UN Security Council arms embargoes, other international agreements, or be used in genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.
• Article 7 export assessment, requiring states parties to assess the risk that an export could undermine peace and security or be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, including gender-based violence.
• National control systems, record-keeping, and annual reporting on authorised or actual exports and imports.

The ATT is administered through a Secretariat in Geneva and annual Conferences of States Parties (CSP). Notable non-parties include the United States (which signed in 2013 but unsigned in 2019 under the Trump administration), Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. China acceded in 2020.

Implementation has been uneven. Civil society groups such as Amnesty International and Control Arms have criticised continued transfers to parties to the conflict in Yemen by several states parties, arguing these breach Article 7. Domestic litigation — for example the UK Court of Appeal's 2019 ruling against arms licences to Saudi Arabia — has drawn on ATT-aligned standards. Debate continues over scope expansion to drones, cyber tools, and ammunition reporting transparency.