Conventional arms control

The UK works with other countries through several treaties on conventional weapons to build confidence, ensure security and reduce threats to civilians. These treaties include:

• Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) - 30 NATO and former Warsaw Pact countries have agreed to limit holdings of certain military equipment from the Atlantic to the Urals
• Vienna Document  – confidence and security building measures for participating states in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
• Open Skies Treaty – participating OSCE states can fly unarmed surveillance flights over one another
• UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) - regulates the use of conventional weapons in conflicts which may be deemed to cause excessive suffering to combatants or indiscriminate harm to civilians.

Arms Trade Treaty

In 2006 the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution calling for an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), to curb the irresponsible transfers of  conventional weapons.

Read more about an Arms Trade Treaty.

Land mines

The UK ratified the Ottawa Convention in 1998, prohibiting the use, production and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines.

The UK is also one of the biggest donors for mine action. We contribute around £10m annually to demining programmes in the worst affected developing countries where mines regularly kill, maim and disrupt lives.

These countries include Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. 

Cluster munitions

Unexploded ordnance from cluster munitions can remain in the ground for decades, threatening the lives of civilians and hampering post-conflict reconstruction and development.

We’re working with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Department for International Development (Dfid) to tackle this humanitarian cost.

Dublin Conference

We’re delighted that a draft convention on cluster munitions [opens as a PDF] was adopted by over 100 countries in Dublin on 30 May. The UK played a leading role in achieving this result.

Our closing statement at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference also acknowledged the key role civil society played.

The new Convention will complement the 1997 Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines in helping to make the world a safer place by prohibiting the use, development, transfer and production of cluster munitions.

What will the UK do next?

The Government plans to sign the Convention when it opens for signature on 3 December in Oslo.

In the meantime, we have taken a significant step towards implementing its norms.

Following the Prime Minister's announcement on 28 May our armed forces have ceased to use the two cluster munitions that the UK retained and have started the procedure to withdraw them from service.

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)

We will continue our efforts within the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

The UK played a leading role in securing support for a negotiating mandate on cluster munitions in November 2007and we are working hard with other states to ensure the CCW adopts a legally binding instrument as soon as possible.

We want to secure an agreement on cluster munitions within the CCW because it includes the main users and producers of these weapons who have remained outside the Oslo Process.

Small arms and light weapons

There are an estimated 875m small arms and light weapons in global circulation – that’s one gun for every 7 people.

The threat and use of these weapons cause enormous suffering around the world because they:

• exacerbate conflicts
• support violent crime and terrorism
• hamper post-conflict reconstruction
• make it harder to tackle poverty and sustainable development.

What are we doing to tackle these weapons?

We're implementing the UN Programme of Action on small arms and light weapons. It's important to exchange information and work with states to build their capacity to better manage their stockpiles. We’re promoting better ways of tracing small arms and contributing to projects which destroy excess stocks.

We're also supporting national and regional initiatives to tackle illicit transfers of these weapons. Our earlier work on global guidelines for transfers is now being taken forward as part of our work towards an Arms Trade Treaty (see section above).

Read our latest case study: Destroying arms in Guinea Bissau