Arms Trade Treaty
At its 61st session the UN General Assembly decided to establish a group of governmental experts (GGE), on the basis of equitable geographic distribution, to examine the feasibility, scope and draft parameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms.
The GGE met for three sessions in 2008. On 8 August 2008, after comprehensive deliberations, the GGE agreed to recommend to the General Assembly to continue the consideration of the issue, within the United Nations.
At its 63rd Session, the First Committee of the General Assembly approved the resolution 63/240, which established an Open – Ended Working Group (OEWG), with the mandate to further considerate those elements in the report of the GGE where consensus could be developed for their inclusion in an eventual legally binding treaty on the import, export and transfer of conventional arms. In 2009, the OEWG met from 2nd to 6th March and from 13th to 17th July and discussed several issues related to the feasibility, scope and parametres of the future treaty. In its report to the General Assembly, the OEWG recognized the need to address the problem relating to unregulated trade in conventional weapons and their diversion to the illicit market and supported that international action should be taken to this end.
At its 64th session, the General Assembly decided to convene the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty in 2012 to elaborate a legally binding instrument for the transfer of conventional arms. It also decided to establish a Preparatory Committee for the 2012 Conference, which held its first session in New York, from the 12th to the 23rd of July 2010 and was chaired by Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritan of Argentina. 
The Preparatory Committee started in-depth discussions on the elements that would be needed to attain an effective and balanced legally binding instrument on the highest possible common international standards for the transfer of conventional arms.
At the end of the session, the Chairman circulated, under his responsibility, a draft paper including elements, principles, goals and objectives of the Arms Trade Treaty, that will be the basis for future negotiations.
In 2011, the Preparatory Committee will meet in New York from 28 of February to 4 of
March and from 11of July to 15 of July.

EU Statements
Statement on behalf of the EU by H.E. Mr. Jan Grauls, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations, at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, 12 July 2010;
Statement on behalf of the EU by H.E. Mr. Werner Bauwens  Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, 13 July 2010;
Statement on behalf of the EU by H.E. Mr. Werner Bauwens  Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, 14 July 2010;
EU Statement on Chair’s Draft Principles, 15 July 2010;
Statement on behalf of the EU by H.E. Mr. Werner Bauwens  Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, 15 July 2010
Statement on behalf of the EU by H.E. Mr. Werner Bauwens  Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, 15 July 2010 Statement on behalf of the EU by H.E. Mr. Werner Bauwens  Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, 19 July 2010 EU Statement on “Transparency”, 21 July 2010;

Documentation
Report of Italy to the UN Register of Conventional Arms