NISAT advocates several measures to reduce the proliferation and misuse of small arms.

On 31 October 1998 all ECOWAS members signed the West African arms production, import and export moratorium. Most arms exporting states have endorsed and expressed support for this initiative. It is also necessary that states inform their arms industries and brokers about the moratorium and enact regulations or policy to prohibit transfers to the region in respect of the agreement.

Several arms manufacturing and exporting states need to adopt better national laws to regulate brokering of arms deals and shipping of weapons by their nationals, including operations run entirely off-shore (that is, in a third country). All transactions conducted by registered arms brokers and shippers should require prior license authority from their home government. Recent U.S. law and regulations on brokering might serve as a model. More

Increasing Transparency Around Small Arms Exports

Currently there is very little hard data available about the principal sources of small arms supply and trafficking. As a result, the relative importance of the legal versus the illegal trade in arming combatants and criminals around the globe is unknown. In the absence of basic information about the magnitude and destinations of state-sanctioned small arms supply, it is difficult to prioritize corrective policies. One of the most important initiatives that governments concerned about the humanitarian and criminal impact of small arms proliferation could undertake is to provide greater transparency around the small arms exports they are authorizing. Very few governments currently do so.  More

Creating Standard End-Use Documentation

The development of standard "end use" forms would minimize forgery of arms export documentation. The form should be used for all arms grants and sales, including those conducted by brokers. Among other things, the form should stipulate that if the arms supplied are subsequently found to be misused (for example, in the perpetration of serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law) or if the arms are diverted, the contract/s would be void.

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