Armed violence in South America is sustained by a continuous supply of ammunition. The region is not affected by inter-State armed conflict, yet it accounts for a share of global firearm homicides considerably above its demographic weight. Nine of the twelve South American States are Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty, and several maintain domestic ammunition production capacity, so that the region participates in the ammunition life cycle as producer, exporter, importer and destination for diversion. Ammunition manufactured in the region has been documented in the possession of criminal organisations within and beyond the continent. The challenges identified by States in the subregion are largely common ones, including diversion from police and military stockpiles, incomplete or paper-based record-keeping, the absence of lot marking, surplus stocks pending destruction, and uneven controls in border areas.
These challenges fall at the intersection of the Arms Trade Treaty and the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management (GFA). The Treaty regulates the international transfer of ammunition and its requirements apply at the point of export, while the Global Framework covers the stages that follow, from stockpile management and record-keeping to the destruction of surplus. The two instruments are therefore interdependent in practice, since the decisions taken when an export is authorised depend on how ammunition is managed once it reaches its destination. Drawing on the outcomes of the subregional seminar "The Global Framework on Ammunition: An Agenda for MERCOSUR", organised by the Asociación para Políticas Públicas (APP) with the support of UNSCAR, the side event will examine which ATT implementation practices concerning ammunition can already be documented in the region and which measures under the Global Framework require coordination among neighbouring States. Ms. Pía Devoto, Director of APP, will present the paper "Building Capacity towards the Implementation of the Global Framework on Ammunition in MERCOSUR", and Mr. Bruno Langeani, of Instituto Sou da Paz, will present research on the illicit ammunition market in MERCOSUR. A representative of a MERCOSUR State will offer a national perspective on ammunition life-cycle management, and the ATT Monitor will provide comments on the information available regarding ammunition transfers to and from the region and on the limits of voluntary reporting.