Statement by Mr John Tilemann, International Security Division of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty. As delivered 28 February 2011.
Mr Chair
Australia joins others in commending your Chairmanship of the Arms Trade Treaty process, and for bringing us to this new and important phase in the work of the Preparatory Committee.
We are, Mr Chairman, very conscious of the short period of time available to us for formal discussion before the negotiating conference in 2012. Accordingly, since the last meeting of the Preparatory Committee in July last year Australia has been pleased to foster in parallel discussion amongst a range of countries with a view to taking the process forward. And we look forward to continuing this process of informal dialogue in the months to the negotiating conference.
At the outset we would wish to underline Australia’s continuing strong commitment to a Treaty that balances security, trade and humanitarian interests and concerns. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with a broad range of UN Members in support of our joint Arms Trade Treaty goals.
Mr Chair
In tackling the difficult issues posed in considering the scope of the Arms Trade Treaty we would underline that the question of scope is related to but distinct from discussion on specific implementation obligations – parameters, transparency measures and reporting. The inclusion of particular arms or activities within the scope of the Treaty does not necessarily indicate that all implementation obligations will apply to all items within the scope of the treaty. Specifically, even if the Treaty requires states to control the transfer of particular arms, it may not require them to report on the transfer of such arms. We hope this understanding will help address the concerns of states which might consider that including certain items (such as ammunition) in the scope of the treaty will lead to unnecessary or heavy reporting obligations.
With this understanding, Australia supports a Treaty that is broad in scope, and we welcome the non-paper you have prepared on this important element to guide our discussions. We also appreciate your papers on Parameters and International Cooperation and Assistance, and look forward to contributing to debate on these elements as well.
As far as the scope of arms to be covered by the treaty, Australia believes the proposed definition of categories outlined in the Chair’s non-paper is a very good basis for moving forward.
Australia supports the inclusion of categories on small arms and light weapons, and ammunition. However, it will be important to ensure that there is no “calibre-gap”, for both ammunition and equipment – accordingly we support the proposal to delete from the definitions all references to specific calibres.
Australia also wishes to share its views on some of the proposed definitions, including the use of the term 'weapon' when referring specifically to firearms. We note the word weapon has different meanings in different states. Unless we address such terminological issues early, we are likely to face implementation and interpretation problems down the track.
Another specific point, we note that the proposed definition of parts and components is broader than the definition contained in, for example, the Firearms Protocol. In our view definitions should where possible be brought into line with agreed usage in existing international instruments.
In terms of the scope of the activities proposed for the ATT, Australia supports the inclusion of export, import, transhipment and brokering. As noted by other delegations, we believe that the definition of brokering could be simplified.
Australia already has effective national systems and controls on arms transfers and is largely compliant with the prospective obligations under the draft scope and parameters provisions contained in the non-papers on the Treaty. For example, as noted by other delegations, in relation to their own national practices, Australia incorporates controls over loans and gifts under our existing export provisions.
Mr Chair, Australia looks forward to contributing further to today’s discussions on scope, and to the development of draft Treaty text on this important element of the Treaty.