The ATT is designed to prevent and eradicate the “illicit and unregulated” trade in weapons. The term “illicit” is not defined in the treaty text, due to dispute over its meaning that has simultaneously facilitated and plagued multilateral action on weapons issues for over two decades.75 That is, the “illicit and unregulated” formulation is both the basis of any traction the treaty might have, and a key source of disagreement as to what the treaty means in practice. Major non-western weapons exporters (Russia and China) and importers (such as India and Middle Eastern states) most strongly articulated a narrow, legalistic, sovereignty-based position during negotiations. For them, illicit transfers are unauthorised transfers to non-state actors, in particular terrorists76 – a position based on their domestic battles over secession, territorial integrity and the monopoly on legitimate violence, and their foreign policy interest in supporting state sovereignty. For them, “illicit” means illegal, unlawful, or unauthorised.
The ATT is designed to prevent the “illicit and unregulated” trade in weapons Major non-western weapons exporters most strongly articulated a narrow, legalistic, sovereignty-based position during negotiations.