For example, Japanese and UK regulations ban certain weapons domestically but do not necessarily ban exports of the same weapons. Limiting ammunition holds promise in helping to break the cycle of violence. Even if all transfers of light weapons were stopped today, the world would still be awash in them decades from now, because light weapons can last that long. But ammunition is rapidly consumed in conflict. Ammunition is also unattractive for smuggling, since it has relatively high weight and relatively low dollar value.
Ammunition also has a significantly shorter shelf-life than the weapons in which it is used.
For all of these reasons, limitations on ammunition supplies may be more feasible than limitations on the weapons themselves. In line with the UN Panel of Experts on Small Arms, the Commission should recommend that the UN should initiate a study on the problems of ammunition and explosives. Conclusion To control light weapons internationally, it will be necessary to control them nationally. It is therefore vital for the various UN efforts to work together in developing policy recommendations that enable cooperation at a regional and international level. In March of 1996, the UN set up an initiative to demilitarize Central Africa.