Transparency and parliamentary scrutiny

Transparency and parliamentary scrutiny are essential components of effective dual-use and arms trade controls. Transparency covers the exchange of information between states and the release of publicly available data. It can serve to demonstrate that states are implementing export control policies that are in line with their national laws and international commitments and help to identify and prevent destabilizing weapons build-ups. Parliamentary scrutiny involves parliament playing an active role in the drafting and implementing of states’ controls in these areas.

SIPRI’s work on transparency and parliamentary scrutiny involves monitoring the various transparency and reporting instruments in the field of arms export controls. These include national reports on arms exports that states produce, as well as the United Nations Register on Conventional Arms, the European Union Annual Report on Arms Exports and the Organization of American States (OAS) Transparency Convention. It also involves assessing the mechanisms of parliamentary scrutiny that have been developed in this area, providing recommendations for how they could be improved, and giving presentations to Parliamentary hearings.