Nicholas Marsh wrote the first draft, which was then edited by him along with Brian Wood of AI, Peter Dansseart of the International Peace Information Service (IPIS), and Clare da Silva.
Public reporting is a key means by which the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will become more than a set of obligations and actually affect States’ behaviour. Fully transparent reporting will build confidence amongst States, allowing States to
demonstrate that they are implementing the treaty, and provide a basis for States and civil society to assess how the ATT is being applied in practice.
For the purposes of demonstrating compliance with the provisions of the ATT, transparency means that States must regularly provide accurate, comprehensive, timely and public information on exports, imports and other international transfers of conventional arms covered by the Treaty. States must also report on the implementation of the Treaty under their national laws, regulations and administrative procedures, including relevant enforcement actions and international
cooperation and assistance activities.
The report focuses on why States should transparently report on their international arms trade and transfers. It also provides a brief overview of transparency initiatives to date, and outlines how a reporting mechanism could be
incorporated into the Treaty.