Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Preamble
- Article 1 Object and Purpose
- Article 2 Scope
- Article 3 Ammunition/Munitions
- Article 4 Parts and Components
- Article 5 General Implementation
- Article 6 Prohibitions
- Article 7 Export and Export Assessment
- Article 8 Import
- Article 9 Transit or Trans-Shipment
- Article 10 Brokering
- Article 11 Diversion
- Article 12 Record Keeping
- Article 13 Reporting
- Article 14 Enforcement
- Article 15 International Cooperation
- Article 16 International Assistance
- Article 17 Conference of States Parties
- Article 18 Secretariat
- Article 19 Dispute Settlement
- Article 20 Amendments
- Article 21 Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval or Accession
- Article 22 Entry into Force
- Article 23 Provisional Application
- Article 24 Duration and Withdrawal
- Article 25 Reservations
- Article 26 Relationship with Other International Agreements
- Article 27 Depositary
- Article 28 Authentic Texts
Article 4 - Parts and Components
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 December 2021
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Preamble
- Article 1 Object and Purpose
- Article 2 Scope
- Article 3 Ammunition/Munitions
- Article 4 Parts and Components
- Article 5 General Implementation
- Article 6 Prohibitions
- Article 7 Export and Export Assessment
- Article 8 Import
- Article 9 Transit or Trans-Shipment
- Article 10 Brokering
- Article 11 Diversion
- Article 12 Record Keeping
- Article 13 Reporting
- Article 14 Enforcement
- Article 15 International Cooperation
- Article 16 International Assistance
- Article 17 Conference of States Parties
- Article 18 Secretariat
- Article 19 Dispute Settlement
- Article 20 Amendments
- Article 21 Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval or Accession
- Article 22 Entry into Force
- Article 23 Provisional Application
- Article 24 Duration and Withdrawal
- Article 25 Reservations
- Article 26 Relationship with Other International Agreements
- Article 27 Depositary
- Article 28 Authentic Texts
Summary
Article 4: Parts and Components
Each State Party shall establish and maintain a national control system to regulate the export of parts and components where the export is in a form that provides the capability to assemble the conventional arms covered under Article 2 (1) and shall apply the provisions of Article 6 and Article 7 prior to authorizing the export of such parts and components.
INTRODUCTION
Article 4 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) requires each State Party to establish and maintain a national control system that allows it to regulate the export of parts and components corresponding to those categories of conventional arms covered by Article 2(1). The focus of Article 4 is on the form of the export in order to avoid even complex conventional arms being broken down into a small number of constituent parts to circumvent export controls. The national control system established under Articles 4 and 5 requires that States Parties have the capacity to identify where the export of parts and components ‘is in a form that provides the capability to assemble the conventional arms covered under Article 2(1)’. Various practical approaches have been developed by States to establish such controls, though the ATT requires that these controls also apply to Article 6 and Article 7.
NEGOTIATING HISTORY
Article 4’s origins are intrinsically linked to discussions on the scope of equipment and items to be covered by the ATT. These discussions began with the 2006 United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution ‘Towards an Arms Trade Treaty’, which set out two processes.
Firstly, the Resolution requested the UN Secretary-General to ‘seek the views of Member States on the feasibility, scope and parameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument …’ and to submit a report to the General Assembly at its 62nd session (UNGA, 2006, para. 1).
Secondly, the Resolution requested the Secretary-General to establish a Group of Government Experts (GGE), commencing in 2008, ‘to examine the feasibility, scope and draftparameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms’ and to transmit its report to the General Assembly for consideration at its 63rd session (UNGA, 2006, para. 2).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Arms Trade TreatyWeapons and International Law, pp. 76 - 88Publisher: IntersentiaPrint publication year: 2021