NISAT database public user manual
Contents
1. Netherlands arms export policy in 2003 for further details In the Netherlands annual report 2003 arms exports are reported for the first half and second half of the year Users of the database will therefore find two entries for the same weapons categories for certain countries corresponding to the separate licences issued by the Dutch Central Import and Export Service Norway Values are rounded to the nearest 1000 NOK Vapenholdere weaponholders and stands and stativer weaponholders and stands are included as parts and components Skiskytterrifle amp jaktrifle ski shooting rifle amp hunting rifle are included as rifles and components Ammunition and Explosives includes Ammunition components and blanks Explosives includes Explosive components utgangsmateriale Missiles bombs torpedoes amp grenades includes components thereof Silencers are included as rifles and components 57 mm vingspatron is not included in the database because it is likely not to be a small arm or light weapon Norwegian export reports divide exported arms into two categories Category A contains arms and ammunition in addition to material of significant military value Category B includes all other military equipment Since 2005 Norwegian export reports contain separate tables for Exports of handguns and their components Sweden Values for exports to al2. Ammunition are all included as Military Pyrotechnics amp Associated Ammunition Equipment Grenades and Hand Grenades both cover Fragmentation Hand Grenades and have been used interchangeably CS Hand Grenades Stun Grenades and Thunderflashes are all included as Thunderflashes amp Stun Grenades amp CS Grenades Target Pistols and Sporting Pistols are included as Sporting Pistols before 2001 this is specified as a text note and categorised as Pistols amp Revolvers Irritant ammunition has either been included in Crowd Control amp Irritant Ammunition or Tear Gas Irritant Ammunition This is due to changes in UK reporting practices United States The US annual report on its arms exports is known as the 655 Report This comprises two reports a State Department report on export licence authorisations and a two part Pentagon report on actual deliveries as part of the Excess Defense Articles EDA programme or as Foreign Military Sales FMS Direct Commercial Sales Authorisations DCSA reported by the State Department are listed as authorisations for industrial vendors FMS are listed as deliveries by government vendors EDA are classified as offered status code 6 accepted 7 rejected 8 delivered 9 For FY 2003 all figures are status code 6 which we list as authorisations In the case of EDA We used the allocation field as the
3. double counted in the database This may occur if two or more different sources provide information on the authorisation and delivery respectively Data sources back For more information on the various data sources used in the NISAT database please consult Haug M et al 2002 Shining a Light on Small Arms Exports The Record of State Transparency Small Arms Survey p 70 Database users should also consult the pages on annual arms export reports and customs data which are available on the menu to the left Notes on selected data sources Users should be aware that the various sources use differing methodologies and weapons categories Moreover some countries have changed their reporting methodologies over the years Users are advised to check the original source of the information In weapon type names amp is used to indicate and or This has been used to save characters and provide more space for the weapon type description Belgium Belgium did not publish specific information on exports of small arms by country of destination for the years 2000 or 2002 but did for 1999 and 2001 Bulgaria Bulgaria s Annual Report for 2002 2003 is an unofficial translation The Annual Report 2002 2003 does not disaggregate exports by country and weapons type However it does include percentages of total exports separated into categories corresponding with the EU Code lt LINK gt of Conduct s common list of military equipmen
4. for example if a transaction were for machineguns and howitzers or if the description of the material does not specify whether it covers SALW or not for example reports of transfers of ammunition
5. is a consequence of many figures being reported by sources are rounded or are approximations The accuracy column contains one of three words low medium and high These are defined as low the source supplied estimates accurate to and figures rounded to more than the nearest USD 1000 for example a report that a country had exported USD 1 2 million worth of ammunition medium the source supplied estimates accurate to and figures rounded to USD 1000 or less for example a report that a country exported 59 000 worth of small arms In addition all instances in which the person responsible for data entry has calculated a figure are defined as medium For example if small arms were defined as comprising 56 879 of a country s total arms exports of USD 200 000 then we would calculate the figure as being USD 113 758 As the figure had not been directly supplied by the source it s accuracy would be described as being medium high the source supplied figures with no evident estimation rounding or calculation Please note that an assessment of the reliability of the source is provided in a different column reliability outlined in the following section It is possible for a reliable source to provide an inaccurate figure for example a government report might state that approximately USD 500 000 worth of small arms were exported during a particular year Reliability back We provide a description of
6. the source and a subjective judgment concerning its reliability These are each defined by two categorisations Concerning the description of the source they are Primary original documents produced by the party involved in the transfer such as a government report on its arms exports and eye witness reports Secondary information reported by a third party such as a press report Concerning the reliability of the source this is divided into two categorisations high and less This is based on a subjective judgment by the person responsible for entering the data In general it is based upon an assessment of the veracity of the information provided by the source which is based upon our assessment of whether the source has systems in place to check data and ensure data quality Please note that an evaluation of the accuracy of the figure provided by the source is provided in a different column accuracy It is possible for a reliable source to provide an inaccurate figure for example a government report might state that approximately USD 500 000 worth of small arms were exported during a particular year Small Arms Only back Some transfers comprise equipment that is entirely covered by the 1997 UN panel of experts definition of small arms and light weapons In such cases the column includes 4 yes In other cases the column includes no This occurs in two cases if the material includes both SALW and other equipment
7. types Select start and end dates back Please use these options to define the start and end dates for your search The dates available are dynamically calculated based upon your previous selections in options 1 4 Selecting long time periods over several decades may well produce excessively large datasets Select vendor type back You can select whether to view information on government sales sales by commercial companies or both Note that commercial sales will normally require an export license Many data sources do not specify the vendor and are coded in the database as not known Users should use the all option to include them Data Scope back This option allows the user to define whether to search for export license authorisations and deliveries export license refusals or both For more information on license authorisations refusals and deliveries please consult the following sections Authorisations licenses Issued This column states the number of export licenses that have been issued according to the source Please note that in many cases small arms may not be delivered even after an export license has been granted because of cancelled contracts etc For more information see the note on authorisations and deliveries below Licenses Refused This column shows the number of export licenses that were refused according to the source For more information on the distin
8. 0mm rockets were not included mortars and mortar rounds included as non small arms only as the calibre is unknown see above The category 37 75mm cartridges is used in the Defense Department EDA report whereas 40 75mm cartridges is used in the State Department FMS report We used the category 37 40mm 75mm cartridges category to cover both Although the FMS report FY 2003 uses the category 37 75mm cartridges the generic 37 40mm 75 cartridges category is still applied Entries under the category weapons spares in FMS are not included The category Pol Gases and Fuels is used in the DCSA FMS FY2003 report and is included as Riot control chemicals anti pers non small arms only Government or Industrial sale back This column shows the identity of the vendor This is currently defined in three ways government sales by government ministries of their SALW for example the sale of surplus equipment by a ministry of defence industrial commercial sales of SALW negotiated by companies Please note that these will normally also have to receive a government export license not known instances where no information is available Please see the notes on the individual data sources for more specific information Accuracy back We provide an assessment of the accuracy of figures reported by the sources This is not an indication of the reliability of the source Instead it
9. NISAT database public user manual Introduction The NISAT database project collects information on transfers of small arms and light weapons from a variety of sources and compiles them in this database The database does not provide a definitive value for states exports and imports The database therefore provides the user with an opportunity to access information from a wide variety of open data sources Users should take note that in many cases the NISAT database may contain more than one reference to the same transfer from different sources and transfers taking place in many parts of the world may well remain unreported Absence of information should not be regarded as evidence that transfers have not taken place Even though the majority of the information comes from official government sources in many cases it is incomplete and only offers a partial snapshot of the global trade in small arms and light weapons Users should bear this in mind when discovering that imports do not always correlate with exports or vice versa Furthermore users should be aware that customs data Comtrade and national customs merely reports the flow of small arms across borders Transfers reported by customs sources may not record the final country of destination Some transfers may concern the temporary movement of small arms such as for repair rather than definitive exports or imports Please note that the researcher s database is access
10. als and those licence denials which were reported under the EU Code lt LINK gt of Conduct The two do not necessarily refer to the same licence applications This is for two reasons first there is a delay in reporting under the EU code so some of the licences listed in this category may have been refused and reported during the previous year Second the denials reported under the EU Code include exporters that were rebuffed following an initial enquiry into whether a licence application was likely to succeed The list of licence refusals does not include this information on initial enquiries In many cases the German annual report has listed transfers of a group of weapon types rather than a single category Where possible we have provided a verbatim translation of the annual report entry However in many cases this has not been possible due to the names of these weapons Therefore the weapon type name has been abridged In those cases an asterisk has been added to the end of the weapon type Users are urged to consult the German Annual Report in these cases Furthermore for similar reasons in some cases we have provided a generic weapon type such as ammunition and provided more detail in a text note For more information see the note on weapon types Netherlands Licences for temporary export have been disregarded in the Netherlands reports in view of the fact that such licences are subject to mandatory re import See the
11. amp Revolvers 220 Rifles Shotguns Sport 230 Rifles Shotguns Military 240 Machine Guns Sub amp Light 250 Military Weapons 300 Light Weapons 310 Machine Guns Heavy 320 Cannon 330 Mortars lt 100mm 340 Missile amp Rocket Launchers Man Portable 350 Grenade Launchers 400 Ammunition Explosives amp Missiles 405 Ammunition all categories 410 Small Arms and Cannon Ammunition 415 Small Arms Ammunition 420 Grenades 430 Missiles amp Rockets 440 Landmines 450 Military Explosives 500 Parts amp Accessories Please note that 100 is the top level code If used all weapon types will be selected Code 250 anomalous and only refers to the customs category 930100 In practice it includes both small arms and light weapons Users are strongly advised to start their search using the code 100 and then narrow down their search This is because some data sources provide only general descriptions of the small arms in question Therefore a potentially interesting transfer may only be included at the higher level Select level of detail back This option allows the user to select country specific weapon types or PRIO weapon types The advantage of the former is that they are as close as possible to what was reported by the country or organization in question However that are not very comparable As noted above the PRIO weapon types are comparable but of course lack the specificity of the country specific
12. ction between licenses and deliveries see below Authorisation or Delivery This column states whether the source reported an authorisation or a delivery of SALW The distinction between the two is authorisations refer to export licenses that have been granted by the relevant government department Information on authorisations just refers to permission to export It does not guarantee that the arms were actually delivered deliveries refer to actual shipments of SALW that have arrived at the stated destination Similarly the existence of a delivery does not guarantee that an authorisation has been granted In practice the value of goods delivered are often less than those licensed for export This can be because deals may be cancelled or reduced or an exporter may request a license for a potential transaction which is not fulfilled Moreover care should be exercised when comparing authorisations and deliveries from different data sources In some cases there may be a considerable delay between the authorisation and delivery for example some UK licenses are valid for two years Furthermore users should be aware that some transactions may be double counted in the database This may occur if two or more different sources provide information on the authorisation and delivery respectively Display all values in US Dollars back All the transfers in the database are stored in the currency in which they were reported euros
13. e a transfer could be made to NATO rather than to one of its member states Users are urged to look at the original data source for clarification Import and Export Users should be aware that while the popular use of the terms import and export imply that the weapon in question are bought or sold this is not always the case Weapons may be gifted re exported or transferred temporarily for purposes of repair or demonstration etc In particular customs data does not show the context of a particular transfer Select PRIO arms classification back The database uses information form a wide variety of sources Unfortunately there is no common global standard for classifying small arms and light weapons While this project follows that provided in the 1997 UN panel of experts report there exist many other regional OSCE EU global Wassenaar and a myriad of national definitions Therefore the various data sources provide a wide variety of descriptions of small arms and light weapons In order to aid comparison between the various sources we have ascribed each weapon transferred a PRIO weapon type The PRIO classification broadly follows the 1997 UN panel of experts report E Description 100 Small Arms Light Weapons Ammunition Explosives Missiles Parts amp Accessories 150 Small Arms amp Light Weapons 200 Small Arms 210 Pistols
14. e weight of the goods being transferred Except where stated this figure is in kilograms kg Licenses Refused back This column shows the number of export licenses that were refused according to the source For more information on the distinction between licenses and deliveries please refer to the following section Authorisation or Delivery back This column states whether the source reported an authorisation or a delivery of SALW The distinction between the two is authorisations refer to export licenses that have been granted by the relevant government department Information on authorisations just refers to permission to export It does not guarantee that the arms were actually delivered deliveries refer to actual shipments of SALW that have arrived at the stated destination Similarly the existence of a delivery does not guarantee that an authorisation has been granted In practice the value of goods delivered are often less than those licensed for export This can be because deals may be cancelled or reduced or an exporter may request a license for a potential transaction which is not fulfilled Moreover care should be exercised when comparing authorisations and deliveries from different data sources In some cases there may be a considerable delay between the authorisation and delivery for example some UK licenses are valid for two years Furthermore users should be aware that some transactions may be
15. for more information Weapon type Units Value Licenses issued Weight Licenses refused Authorisations or Deliveries Data sources Government or industrial sale Accuracy Reliability Small arms only Reverse querying back This is a very powerful facility that instructs the database to automatically search the mirror of a particular transaction A search for a particular country s exports will also check all other countries declarations of their imports Similarly a search for a country s imports will also reveal exports to it by all other countries In this way a more complete dataset can be generated For example the German Democratic Republic DDR did not release any information about its SALW exports However it is possible to build up a partial picture of the DDR s exports as a reverse queried search will produce a table of all countries that have declared imports from the DDR Please take note that reverse querying can generate very large datasets Therefore it is wise to limit other parameters such as the start and end date Select country 1 back Use this option to select the focus of the search You will subsequently be able to define the flow import or export and the partner country or region Some 250 countries and territories such as Greenland or Hong Kong are available The bracketed numbers after the countries and territories refer to the Correlates of War project s classification syste
16. ible only via a password This part of the database contains more detailed information and may contain copyright protected data that can only be distributed to a limited set of scholarly users If you wish to access the researcher s database please send us a mail with your details Querying the database It is very important to use the correct selection order for the first four steps 1 2 3 4 More information about the steps is displayed below click on the headings for more information 1 Reverse querying 2 Select country or region 1 3 Imports from or exports to 4 Select country or region 2 Select PRIO arms classification Select level of detail Select data source Select start year Select end year Select vendor type Select data scope Display all values in US dollars Display data in CSV format Once the categories have been selected the go button will become active You should press it to search the database You may have to wait a few minutes for very large searches to be processed Your browser may time out if the search takes too long In this case please search again using more limited parameters For example a search of all US exports over the period 1962 2002 will produce an excessively large dataset You are advised to split up the search perhaps by looking at data for only ten years at a time Interpreting the results The database presents information in the following categories click on them
17. l countries 2002 to the nearest million SEK 0 value given for total exports of Assault Rifles and parts in 2001 and 2002 presumably indicates a value of lt 500 000 SEK United Kingdom Concerning information from the UK annual report SIELs are Standard Individual Export Licences OIELs are Open Individual Export Licences SITLs are Standard Individual Transit Licences see UK Annual Reports for more details Up to and including year 2000 the Open Individual Export Licences are not differentiated between Temporary and Permanent exports Singular Plural distinctions are ignored The very large number of weapon types contained in the UK annual report has necessitated some conflation of the arms categories see the section on weapon types Furthermore for similar reasons in some cases we have provided a generic weapon type such as ammunition and provided more detail in a text note Instances of conflation are Machine Pistols are included as Sub Machine Guns Pistols Semi automatic Pistols and Revolvers are included as Pistols amp Revolvers Sporting Rifles Sporting Guns and Combination Rifle Shotguns are included as Sporting Rifles amp Sporting Guns amp Sporting Shotguns Heavy Machine Guns and General Purpose Machine Guns are included as Machine Guns Smoke Hand Grenades Devices Containing Military Pyrotechnic Materials and Smoke
18. llets are included as components for years up to and including 2001 but included as cartridges for 2002 Figures given for export value are rounded to the nearest 100 FIM for 2000 to the nearest 100 EUR for 2001 and are accurate to the EUR for 2002 Finnish legislation distinguishes between exports to non EU countries and transfers to EU partners Obtaining a commercial transfer licence is significantly easier than obtaining a commercial export licence something which is reflected in the relative number of export licences issued 59 vs transfer licences 547 for the year 2000 See Finnish annual report 2000 for further details Germany The German annual report presents different information for different categories of importing states For EU and NATO members and states on an equal footing the report only states the total value of licences issued and whether licences for particular categories were issued No information is provided on licences refused though such refusals would be unlikely Other countries are reported in much greater detail However the information is not comprehensive In general information on the largest transfers to a given country is provided via more detailed description and the value of the transfer is reported as a percentage of the total transfers to that country Concerning Other countries the report states both the number of licences refused together with the total value of these refus
19. m Please click on include data in dependencies if you want the search to also cover a country s dependencies For example selecting this option would provide on both Denmark and Greenland This option will not be available if the country in question has no dependant territories Imports from or exports to back Please select the relationship between the parties selected in options two and four Select country 2 back Use this option to select the partner country or region The countries included in this option have been dynamically generated according to the previous selections reverse querying country 1 and import export The bracketed numbers after the countries and territories refer to the Correlates of War project s classification system Please select include data on dependencies if you want the search to also cover a country s dependencies For example selecting this option would provide on both Denmark and Greenland This option will not be available if a particular country does not have any dependencies Country Name The database uses data reported in the various sources Users should be aware that the destination or origin reported in the sources may not be actual source or end user of the weapons In some cases arms are re exported through a number of countries Where this is apparent we have made a note in the database However in many cases the ultimate origin and destination of weapons is not indica
20. pounds dollars etc To aid comparison this facility converts all the local currencies into US dollars The conversion rate is calculated using the average for the year in question which has been supplied by Oanda Please note that all figures in the database are presented in current USD and users will have to adjust them for USD inflation if necessary Export data in CSV format back This option produces output from the database in Comma Separated Variable CSV format CSV formatted data can easily be imported into spreadsheet or data analysis programmes such as Excel or SPSS Units back This column states the number of units of SALW transferred as stated by the source Value back This column states the value of the SALW transfer as stated by the source The value figure is that which was stated in the source Please note that if you have selected to display all values in US dollars this figure will have been recalculated using the average exchange rate of the year in question The exchange rates were obtained from www oanda com Licenses Issued back This column states the number of export licenses that have been issued according to the source Please note that in many cases small arms may not be delivered even after an export license has been granted because of cancelled contracts etc For more information see the note on authorisations and deliveries Weight back This column states th
21. quantity offered and current value notified field for the dollar value of the equipment concerned even though many of these items will in fact be given away US Annual Reports use fiscals years FY running from 1 October to 30 September Thus the US Annual Report data for FY2000 is listed in the database as 1999 2000 For fiscal years up to and including 1999 FMS figures which are rounded to the nearest 1000 USD are reported as being of high accuracy After 1999 figures are reported as being of medium accuracy The DCSA Annual Report FY2004 distinguishes between between authorisations of defence articles and those associated with defence services Only the authorisations of defence articles are included in the database Concerning individual weapon categories the following distinctions have been made Some weapon definitions have been included in broader categories For instance 9mm Ball Ammunition is included as 22 thru 50 cartridges In these cases a text note is added non specific missile parts are included as non small arms only as missiles can include man portable missiles This category may well include parts for large calibre systems 22 thru 50 cartridges are considered small arms only 20mm 40mm ammunition is included as non small arms only Ammunition over 100mm calibre are not included as the 1997 UN panel of experts definition of small arms and light weapon includes mortars of up to 10
22. t June 2000 We have calculated the value of Bulgaria s exports from the categories that include SALW CO1 CO2 CO3 and CO4 see the Annual Report for definitions The export values destination listed as All countries represent Bulgaria s total yearly exports divided by the percentages for each weapons category and therefore the accuracy of the export values is listed as low Canada Exports to the United States are omitted from the annual reports as an export permit is not required in Canada for shipments to the United States Czech Republic The Czech Republic s 2003 Annual Report is more comprehensive than those published in previous years The report includes overviews of imports and exports in selected small arms and light weapons categories providing a sum of imports and exports and their country sources and destinations although the quantities are not disaggregated by individual country Therefore users will find entries under the code All countries for the total amounts of each SALW category as well as under individual country codes for each SALW category In the latter instance the quantities are unknown Finland In the annual report Cartridge cases Bullets Fuses and Accessories Base bleed unit components Percussion primers and Tracers are all included as Ammunition Components But for 2002 Rifle cartridges bullets are included as Rifle cartridges Thus bu
23. ted Please note that during an upgrade of the database some country names were amended for example St Kitts amp Nevis was amended to St Kitts Nevis Users of the Researchers database could use the Display in CSV format which will provide the number which uniquely identifies each country Special destinations All countries This term is used when a source identifies the total value of its exports of a particular weapon type In practice this figure is generally a sum of reported exports to individual destinations Users should therefore be careful to avoid over estimating countries arms exports However some sources only provide aggregated figures In such cases the All countries figure represents the extent of available information Unspecified country In many cases data sources only indicate that a transfer has taken place but do not list its origin or destination This could be because the source wishes to censor the data or is unaware of the actual destination origin Furthermore many reports of customs data report small transfers perhaps below 100 USD do not list the import exporting state Regions Some sources list exports to regions In some cases these may be an aggregation similar to All countries above In other cases the source just lists transfers to from a region and does not identify the individual trading partner Furthermore other sources list exports to regional organisations For exampl
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