Event Report - “Challenges and Opportunities Posed by New Technologies and Innovation in SALW Control” (May 22, 2025)

About

On May 22, the Forum on the Arms Trade hosted an event to explore the technological advancements – such as 3D printing, modular weapon designs, polymer components, and the proliferation of online platforms – that have transformed the landscape of small arms and light weapons (SALW) manufacturing and distribution. Experts examined how such innovations present both significant challenges and unique opportunities for arms control regulation, exploring how international regulatory instruments and national practices can adapt to the evolving technological environment. Followed by an engaging Q/A, the experts presented recommendations and best practices for the upcoming Open-Ended Technical Experts Group (OETG), which is scheduled to convene within the week of the Biennial Meetings of States (BMS) in 2026 and 2028, to consider the challenges posed by recent and ongoing developments in weapons manufacturing, technology, and design, and explore potential opportunities to strengthen the implementation of the Program of Action (UN PoA) and its International Tracing Instrument (ITI). 

Speakers

• Nicolas Florquin, Head, Data and Analytics Unit, Small Arms Survey
• Matilde Vecchioni, Associate Researcher, Conventional Arms and Ammunition Programme, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
• Frida Thomassen, Political Affairs Officer, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
• Monalisa Hazarika, Emerging Expert, Forum on the Arms Trade (moderator)

Video

A recording of the event is available at https://youtu.be/SZc6k7Wf4DY?t=163

Recommendations and Resources 

Panelists provided the following recommendations and suggested resources during the event or in the drafting of this report.

Nicolas Florquin, Head, Data and Analytics Unit, Small Arms Survey

Recommendations

• Technical measures coordinated under a strategic vision can offer some promising mitigation strategies that are important for the short to medium term, drawing upon experiences from regional contexts and other mechanisms. Some examples/factors include:
  • Resolution 12/3 (2024) of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime includes recommendations related to the regulation of 3D printed firearm blueprints, the need for specialized training for law enforcement and regulatory authorities, the need to develop capacities to detect and investigate privately made firearms (PMFs), and information sharing. 
  • Existing and new sectors/groups that have expertise or need to be considered are law enforcement and forensic experts, postal services (due to the use of parcels for trafficking PMF parts, etc.), public health sector, non-traditional groups not previously engaged in firearms-related criminal activities (for instance folks doing it as a challenge and others motivated by niche political ideologies) as well as youth, including minors, for which educators and parents are important.
  • Ideas such as “design against crime” to incorporate crime prevention features in new technologies.

• We need to consider how to make the knowledge sharing more permanent and give the international community the means to be much more responsive and to anticipate some developments. The OETG will therefore need to consider whether the latest trends in PMFs should be integrated more systematically and in the long run in the UN PoA process and future BMSes, or another appropriate forum. This would allow for information sharing to occur on a regular basis and in the long term, and regional organisations and the law enforcement/forensic communities can play important roles in this longer term surveillance.
• We musn't forget that legally manufactured industrial weapons still represent the bulk of seized firearms and by a margin in most places, and so while we need to tackle the threat of PMFs, the need to implement existing and well established measures to control industrially made weapons remains crucial.

Suggested resources

• “The growing and multifaceted global threat of privately made and other non-industrial small arms and light weapons,”  Small Arms Survey, Instituto Sou da Paz, and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), June 2024.
• Yulia Yarina and Nicolas Florquin, “Dangerous Devices: Privately Made Firearms in the Caribbean,” Small Arms Survey, June 2024.
• Matt Schroeder, Nicolas Florquin, Anne-Séverine Fabre, and Andrea Edoardo Varisco, “Privately Made Firearms in the European Union,” INSIGHT Project, Small Arms Survey, December 2023.
• Julien Joly and Aline Shaban, “Between Tradition and the Law: Artisanal Firearm Production in West Africa,” Small Arms Survey, November 2023.
• Yannick Veilleux-Lepage, “Blocking the Blueprint: Technological Barriers Against 3D-Printed Firearms,” Global Network on Extremism & Technology, November 2024.
• Small Arms Survey webpage on privately made firearms

Matilde Vecchioni, Associate Researcher, Conventional Arms and Ammunition Programme, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)

Recommendations

• There is a need to bridge the gap in knowledge that exists between the technical community and diplomatic and policy circles on the current realities and developments in illicit SALW manufacturing. Technical experts, research institutions and civil society organizations have advanced knowledge about key trends, technologies, and actors in this domain. It is therefore critical, in preparation to the OETG, to ensure that platforms are provided for this technical knowledge to reach the diplomatic community.
• The improvement of existing legislative frameworks and national regulatory approaches needs to be informed by disaggregated and up-to-date data. Enhancing law enforcement agencies capacity to collect and record – in a centralized and consistent manner – data on craft-produced SALW and components is fundamental. It can allow us to identify key national and transnational developments, pinpoint potential trends and improve traceability. On this, it is also critical to leverage good practices and effective legislative measures from national contexts and provide opportunities for these to be shared within and across regions.
• Social media platforms and online service providers are key actors to engage. From an operational perspective, enhancing monitoring and patrolling of online spaces represents a promising strategy to prevent illicit manufacturing and to improve law enforcement’s awareness of emerging trends and tactics. Establishing cooperative relationships and open dialogue with social media providers can significantly support these objectives.
• Technologies – such as 2D codes, chemical encoding, RFID, DLT, AI – can present significant opportunities for preventing or countering diversion in international conventional arms transfer control. However, their application requires a multi-step, needs-driven and context-specific approach. A dialogue among all relevant stakeholders remains critical, and should include the technology development companies, the industrial sectors which would need to deploy and adapt to such technologies, civil society, and state representatives.

Suggested resources

• Matilde Vecchioni, “Unregulated Production: Examining Craft-Produced Weapons from a Global Perspective,” UNIDIR, June 2024.
• Matilde Vecchioni, “Addressing the proliferation of improvised and craft-produced weapons: Why should we care?” UNIDIR, October 2022.
• Sarah Grand-Clément, “Assessing Technologies to Counter the Diversion of Small Arms and Light Weapons,” UNIDIR and Flemish Peace Institute, June 2024.
• Sarah Grand-Clément and Diederik Cops,“Technologies to Counter the Diversion of Small Arms and Light Weapons, and Components of Conventional Weapons,”  UNIDIR and Flemish Peace Institute, August 2023.
• Rueben Dass, “3D-Printed Firearms: Global Proliferation Trends and Analyses,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 1–35, May 2025.

Frida Thomassen, Political Affairs Officer, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)

Recommendations

• For the the Open-Ended Technical Expert Group (OETG) to be successful, we need to:
  • Prioritize well informed preparatory and intersessional work, including expert seminars and consultations, to build momentum and support consensus-building ahead of formal meetings that are only 2-3 days in 2026 and 2028.
  • Actively support participation from all Member States through sponsorships, preparatory capacity-building across regions.
  • Ensure inclusive practices, including through gender balance on delegations as well as youth engagement in the process.
  • Encourage States to share effective practices and lessons learned to bridge regulatory, capacity, and technological gaps between States. 
  • Utilizing  the OETG as a platform to bring technical expertise closer to political processes, and encourage a whole-of government approach to the issue of illicit SALW. 
  • Involve relevant subject matter experts from civil society, academia, and the private sector, through briefings and consultations to enrich the group’s technical understanding.
  • Focus on developing practical recommendations that will meet consensus preferably in 2028 and latest 2030. ​​

​Suggested resources

• Final report of Programme of Action on SALW Fourth Review Conference (Outcome Document with OETG mandate in Annex) – A/CONF.192/2024/RC/3 – 2024.
• Side event on the OETG during First Committee, 2024. See article on this and other relevant developments   
• Chair's Summary of the Second Open-ended Meeting of Governmental Experts on developments in SALW, 2015

The Forum on the Arms Trade provides a platform for sharing of views but does not itself take a position. Videos and resources about events are available online.
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