Since 2010, these cartridges have flooded into west and central Africa. Some are bought on the black market, peddled by soldiers looking to make some cash on the side. Others have been illegally smuggled in shipping containers to countries where they fill the magazines of soldiers known for gross human rights abuses.
Iranian-manufactured bullets have appeared in the hands of both rebel and government forces in the Ivory Coast, a country that is supposedly banned from importing new weaponry. And when 157 demonstrators were killed in a Guinea stadium in 2009, Iranian casings were among the thousands of spent shells.
Virtually every major commodity – from oil to bananas – is regulated by international agreement. Yet there are no global conventions or treaties prohibiting the arms trade, which was valued at $411bn (£262bn) in 2010.
Shortly after the First World War attempts were made to lay down some rules. But ultimately individual states have been left to decide who they should sell to. Even when arms embargoes are in place, dealers find loopholes to smuggle their way into supposedly closed markets – as the conviction of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout illustrated this year. Only 52 countries have laws regulating arms brokers – and fewer than half of those have criminal or monetary penalties for illegal brokering.
But that could change. Starting today, delegates from around the world will gather in New York for a month of negotiations at the United Nations in an attempt to agree a global Arms Trade Treaty. The product of more than a decade of lobbying by human rights groups, it is the best chance the world has had to bring an oversight to an industry that lives on death. Countries such as Britain, Mexico, France and Germany are pushing for a "bullet proof" treaty that would cover almost every aspect of the arms trade. Campaign groups hope to see a clause that would ban the sale of any weapons to states where they are likely to be used for human rights abuses. More
Given that the next hundred years may well be overshadowed by resource shorthges, water, food, petroleum, metal and rare earths it may well be a time to reduce the global arms trade. This is a long overdue initiative, and one that to a great extent is carried out by States Party to the United Nations. Editor
