On 3,10 and 15 December 2020 BAFA organized an online activity for Chile, as ad-hoc partner partner country, in the framework of the EU ATT OP II based on the EU Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/915.

The activity focused particularly on instruments to prevent, detect and fight diversion and illicit trafficking, from a practical and operational perspective, and thereby addressed one of the underlying motives of why the ATT had been created. The agenda topics were developed in cooperation with different Chilean authorities part of the Coordination Group for the Prevention of Illicit Arms Trafficking. The online workshop, which was split into three sessions of around 2 hours, was attended by a total of 243 participants from various Chilean authorities.

The first day of the online activity kicked off with welcome remarks that were followed by an introductory presentation that highlighted the link between the ATT and the prevention, detection and combat of diversion and illicit trafficking and clarified some basic concepts and definitions in this regard. The second presentation addressed the dynamics of diversion and illicit trafficking in Latin America taking into account underlying governmental, societal and cultural factors.

The second day started with an introduction to the different instruments available for the prevention, detection and combat of diversion and illicit trafficking which were once again related to the objectives of the ATT. Subsequently, two of the Chilean authorities participating presented on their role and experience within the detection of illicit arms transfers. This was followed by a presentation focusing on good practice in marking and record-keeping within the Spanish Guardia Civil.

On the first session of the third day of the workshop, another representative of the Guardia Civil provided a presentation on operational inter-agency exchange with the objective to detect and trace illicit arms trafficking on different national, regional and international platforms. Afterwards, another expert presented on good practices from UK customs, including risk profiling, risk assessment and detection methods. After each presentation there was the opportunity for the participants to raise further questions and to add comments and elaborate on their own experience. Moreover, experience with practical instruments to counter diversion and illicit arms trafficking was shared and discussed.  

The activity was supported by six experts in the field of export controls from the United Kingdom, Colombia, Spain, and from Small Arms Survey, and organised by the implementing entity BAFA (Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control), Germany.