Arms embargo is an important instrument for limiting arms exports to states that are likely to use them to violate human rights and other international norms or are prone to civil conflict. Stand-alone arms embargoes, however, are rarely successful and are typically accompanied by other ‘targeted sanctions’ such as asset freezes or travel bans for individuals.
Nevertheless, major arms exporters like Russia and the US can undermine embargoes more quickly than minor ones and they may even choose to breach them. This can be for political and strategic reasons: securing access to resources, supporting preferred political partners, strengthening military alliances, or increasing interoperability of armed forces, for example. It can also be for economic concerns: to mitigate rising oil prices, or to pre-empt or resolve domestic discontent such as the “Gilets Jaunes” protests in France in 2018 that were triggered by soaring fuel costs.
Smuggling and other forms of illicit trade are also frequent and a significant reason for embargo failure. These are often facilitated through front companies or through the use of third countries, or involve state-sanctioned grey market trading in order to support unauthorized non-state parties or groups involved in political violence. Furthermore, the growing availability of advanced technology such as 3D printing and online platforms lowers the threshold for building weapons capacity making it easier to circumvent embargoes. It is therefore vital that companies check whether their foreign trade activities are subject to an arms embargo and keep up-to-date with changing sanction lists. Our BEX add-on SANSCREEN supports compliance and can be easily integrated into your ERP system, comparing your business partners’ details with official sanction lists in real time.