Belgium
7 June 2013
China
Declaration: In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Government of the People’s Republic of China decides that the Treaty applies to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
Kazakhstan
Declaration upon accession: “The Republic of Kazakhstan, recognizing the object and purpose of the Treaty and notwithstanding Article 28 of the Treaty, declares that in the application of the Treaty the term “перенаправление” (diversion) in Article 13, paragraph 2 of the Treaty in Russian shall be understood as “незаконное перенаправление” (illegal diversion).”
Liechtenstein
Declarations: "It is the understanding of Liechtenstein that the terms "export", "import", "transit", "transshipment" and "brokering" in Article 2, paragraph 2, include, in light of the object and purpose of this Treaty and in accordance with their ordinary meaning, monetary or non-monetary transactions, such as gifts, loans and leases, and that therefore these activities fall under the scope of this Treaty. It is the understanding of Liechtenstein that the term "grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes as defined by international agreements to which it is a party" in Article 6, paragraph 3, encompasses acts committed in international and in non-international armed conflicts, and includes, among others, serious violations of Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949; as well as, for States Parties to the relevant agreements, war crimes as described in the Hague Convention IV of 1907 and its Regulations, the Additional Protocols of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998. It is the understanding of Liechtenstein that the term "knowledge" in Article 6, paragraph 3, in light of the object and purpose of this Treaty and in accordance with its ordinary meaning, implies that the State Party concerned shall not authorise the transfer if it has reliable information providing substantial grounds to believe that the arms or items would be used in the commission of the crimes listed. It is the understanding of Liechtenstein that the term "overriding risk" in Article 7, paragraph 3, encompasses, in light of the object and purpose of this Treaty and in accordance with the ordinary meaning of all equally authentic language versions of this term in this Treaty, an obligation not to authorise the export whenever the State Party concerned determines that any of the negative consequences set out in paragraph 1 are more likely to materialise than not, even after the expected effect of any mitigating measures has been considered. It is the understanding of Liechtenstein that Article 26, paragraph 2, seeks to ensure that in a private law dispute, this Treaty cannot be relied upon as a reason to declare as invalid existing or future international defence cooperation agreements concluded between States Parties, and as a consequence, this Treaty remains applicable for any State Party in disregard of obligations under a defence cooperation agreement, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969."
New Zealand2
Declarations: “… the Government of New Zealand … DECLARES that it considers that the reference to “ammunitions/munitions” in Article 3 of the Treaty means “ammunition and munitions” and that accordingly the scope of the Treaty includes both ammunition and munitions fired, launched or delivered by the conventional arms covered under Article 2(1); AND DECLARES that it considers the reference to “grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes as defined by international agreements to which it is a Party” in Article 6(3), encompasses acts committed in international and in non-international armed conflict, and includes serious violations of Common Article 3 to the Geneva Convention of 1949 as well as, for States Parties to the relevant agreements, war crimes as described in the Hague Convention IV of 1907 and its Regulations, the Additional Protocols of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; AND DECLARES that it considers the effect of the term “overriding risk” in Article 7(3) is to require that it decline to authorize any export where it is determined that there is a substantial risk of any of the negative consequences in Article 7(1); AND DECLARES that it considers that where a non-monetary transaction, such as a gift, loan or lease, involves the transfer or arms or items within the scope of the Treaty, such transaction will be covered by the Treaty; AND DECLARES that it considers that the Treaty does not place any further restrictions on the international movement of small arms for legitimate recreational and sporting activities where there is no change in ownership of these arms; AND DECLARES that it considers that all obligations in the Treaty relating to transit and transshipment of arms or items within the scope of the Treaty must be read in the light of Article 9 …”
Switzerland
Declaration: … It is the understanding of Switzerland that the terms "export", "import", "transit", "transshipment" and "brokering" in Article 2, paragraph 2, include, in the light of the object and purpose of this Treaty and in accordance with their ordinary meaning, monetary or non-monetary transactions, such as gifts, loans and leases, and that therefore these activities fall within the scope of this Treaty. It is the understanding of Switzerland that the term "grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes as defined by international agreements to which it is a Party" in article 6, paragraph 3, encompasses acts committed in international and in non-international armed conflicts, and includes, among others, serious violations of Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949; as well as, for States Parties to the relevant agreements, war crimes as described in the Hague Convention IV of 1907 and its Regulations, the Additional Protocols of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998. It is the understanding of Switzerland that the term "knowledge" in Article 6, paragraph 3, in the light of the object and purpose of this Treaty and in accordance with its ordinary meaning, implies that the State Party concerned shall not authorize the transfer if it has reliable information providing substantial grounds to believe that the arms or items would be used in the commission of the crimes listed. It is the understanding of Switzerland that the term "overriding risk" in Article 7, paragraph 3, encompasses, in the light of the object and purpose of this Treaty and in accordance with the ordinary meaning of all equally authentic language versions of this term in this Treaty, an obligation not to authorize the export whenever the State Party concerned determines that any of the negative consequences set out paragraph 1 are more likely to materialize than not, even after the expected effect of any mitigating measures has been considered. It is the understanding of Switzerland that Article 26, paragraph 2, seeks to ensure that in a private law dispute, this Treaty cannot be relied upon as a reason to declare as invalid existing or future international defence cooperation agreements concluded between States Parties, and as a consequence, this Treaty remains applicable for any State Party in disregard of obligations under a defence cooperation agreement, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969.
Upon its Approval of the Treaty, the Government of Denmark notified the Secretary-General of the following:
"The Treaty shall not apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland until further notice."
Upon its Ratification of the Treaty, the Government of New Zealand notified the Secretary-General of the following:
“… consistent with the constitutional status of Tokelau and taking into account the commitment of the Government of New Zealand to the development of self-government for Tokelau through an act of self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations, [the] ratification [of the Arms Trade Treaty] shall not extend to Tokelau unless and until a Declaration to this effect is lodged by the Government of New Zealand with the depository on the basis of appropriate consultation with that territory …”
In a communication received on 18 July 2019, the Government of the United States of America informed the Secretary-General of the following:
“This is to inform you, in connection with the Arms Trade Treaty, done at New York on April 2, 2013, that the United States does not intend to become a party to the treaty. Accordingly, the United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature on September 25, 2013.
The United States requests that its intention not to become a party, as expressed in this letter, be reflected in the depositary’s status lists relating to this treaty, and all other publicly available media relating to the treaty be updated to reflect this intention not to become a party.”