Two more countries became States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) recently – Mauritius and Niger. This brings the total number of States Parties to 71, with more expected to ratify or accede ahead of the first Conference of States Parties (CSP) next month.
Mauritius submitted its instrument of accession on 23 July. The island country has reason to be vigilant about regulating the arms trade and particularly the actions of brokers after an arms trafficking network was discovered there in 2012, during the first ATT negotiating conference. The government quickly took action to shut down the network. Niger signed the ATT in March 2014, and submitted their instrument of ratification on 27 July. Located in the Sahel region, which has seen greater movement and availability of small arms light weapons since the conflict in Libya and more recently, in Mali, Niger has recently stepped up its efforts to mark and register weapons in order to reduce illicit trafficking.
Control Arms welcomes Mauritius and Niger as States Parties and continues to encourage other governments to join the Treaty. Governments will meet in Mexico from 24-27 August for the first CSP at which important decisions will be taken as to how the Treaty will be implemented and administered in future.