IOR/L/PS/10/673

The volume contains correspondence in the form of telegrams, minutes, and reports concerning arms trafficking after the war. In particular, the correspondence is concerned with the ratification of the Arms Traffic Convention of 1919 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) by the League of Nations. The Convention covers the following subheadings: Export of Arms and Ammunition; Import of Arms and Ammunition; Prohibited Areas and Zone of Maritime Supervision; Supervision on Land; Maritime Supervision; and General Provisions.

The correspondence covers the following:

• The establishing of an interdepartmental committee by the Ministry of Reconstruction to consider the question of the import and export of firearms in the United Kingdom after the war
• The question of the supply of arms to Afghanistan, Tibet and Nepal in light of the Convention
• The interpretation of the term 'export' in the view of the existing arrangements to control arms trafficking
• The measures to be taken by the British Government to give effect to the provisions of Chapters III and IV of the Convention
• The Air Ministry’s proposal that French, Italian, Belgian, and Japanese Governments should be urged to agree to prohibit export of small arms and ammunition to prohibited zones
• The application of the terms of the Convention in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea
• The exportation of arms and ammunitions to prohibited zones specified in Article 6 of the Convention
• The question of the adhesion of various governments including France, Bulgaria, Finland, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States to the Convention
• The export of arms to Turkey

The volume includes multiple copies in both English and French of the draft convention amending the Convention signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919 for the Control of the Trade in Arms and Ammunition and Protocol.

The main correspondents in the volume are the Ministry of Reconstruction; the Government of India, Foreign and Political Department; the Secretary of State for India; the Board of Trade; the Viceroy, Foreign Department; the Foreign Office; the Under-Secretary of State, Government of India; the Secretary of the Admiralty, London; the Treasury Chambers; and the League of Nations.

The volume consists of three parts, each of which includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.