American civilians, government push global small arms trade deals to double at $8.5b – Survey

The annual value of authorized international transfers of small arms, light weapons, their parts, accessories, and ammunition has doubled to at least $8.5 billion from the estimated $4 billion value in 2006, according to a new survey report released August 27, 2012.

According to the report entitled “Moving Targets”, the 2012 edition of the Small Arms Survey said the new figure was arrived at as a result of a four-year investigation completed this year.

“An expansion in the arms trade is partly responsible for the upward revision. Two important sources of growth are increased spending by US civilians on small arms and their ammunition, and large-scale government purchases of military firearms and light weapons for international and national armed forces involved in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the report said.

The Small Arms Survey found that the authorized trade in small arms and light weapons is “highly concentrated”, with a handful of countries accounting for most of the documented transfers during the 2001–2010 period.

The survey calculated the top importers and exporters using the most recent published customs data, but poor transparency in state reporting—among both large and small exporters—keeps a great deal of the authorized trade obscure.

Managing Director of Small Arms Survey, Mr Eric Berman, looking at the top exporters, said that in 2009, the United States had topped the list of 12 countries exporting at least $100 million worth of small arms and light weapons.

He added that two of the 12 countries, France and Japan, had reached that figure for the first time, while Italy, Germany and Brazil had also ranked high.

Mr Berman acknowledging the difficulty in assessing transfers of guided weapons, such as man-portable air defence systems and anti-tank weapons, which he said were not included in the $8.5 billion figure.

“While state transparency on small arms transfers to and from Europe and North America has been relatively strong, it has lagged in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East,’ said Berman.

He adds that improved transparency from important exporters, such as China and the Russian Federation, as well as states that re-export surplus weapons, would improve our understanding of the sources and means through which authorized arms transfers fuel the illicit trade.”

By Ekow Quandzie

Watch launch of 2012 Small Arms Survey entitled Moving Targets