Arms embargo are prohibitions on the export, supply or delivery of military items to a certain country or group of people. These prohibitions are often based on international law and may also be supplemented by additional sanctions, financial restrictions or travel bans for specific persons. Companies trading in arms or weapons-related technology must therefore carefully check sanctions lists and license requirements. Using a digital compliance tool, such as BEX add-on SANSCREEN that can be easily integrated into the ERP system and checks against official EU and country sanctions lists in real time, helps to avoid sanctions violations.
Despite the many efforts to strengthen arms embargoes, there is still a considerable amount of illicit arms trade. The main reason for this is that conventional weapons have long lifespans and can be re-used, repurposed or reverse engineered for new uses. They can even be smuggled and sold to non-state actors or used as weapons of war.
States are willing to violate arms embargoes when they perceive economic, political or strategic benefits from non-compliance. In particular, major exporters such as Russia and the US can quickly and dramatically undermine an embargo through their own direct sales or by facilitating the sale of weapons through their networks of brokers.
Moreover, arms embargoes are most effective when they are complemented by other forms of diplomatic pressure and multilateral diplomacy. This is particularly important because the primary aim of any arms embargo should be to signal disapproval of unwanted behavior in order to galvanize international opposition and increase pressure for change.
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