Opposing Arms Fairs
Arms Fairs are the trade exhibitions for military industry which are an integral
and important part of the international arms trade.
They happen all over the world, from Paris to Jakarta and provide arms
companies with a forum for marketing their goods and services, and an
opportunity to discuss collaboration on military projects. Britain's two
main arms fairs take place on alternate years and are Defence Systems
and Equipment International (DSEi) and Farnborough International, which
focuses on aerospace.
Arms Fairs allow the weapons manufacturers an opportunity to promote their
products to regimes in conflict, those with terrible human rights records,
or without adequate resources. For all the reasons that CAAT opposes the
arms trade, we oppose the presence of arms fairs.
The DSEi arms fair
Defence Systems and Equipment International, or DSEi, is one of the world's biggest arms fairs and has been held in the ExCel centre in East London's Docklands since 1999. It is a "tri-service defence exhibition", which means it is a forum for selling military equipment of all kinds for land, sea and air. The arms fair is organised by a commercial company and receives major support from the UK government: financial, logistical and political. The most recent DSEi arms fair took place in September 2007.
Reed Elsevier
CAAT has long been campaigning for the closure of DSEi and in June 2007 won an important victory with the commercial organiser, Reed Elsevier, announcing that it intended to pull out of the arms fair business. CAAT had campaigned to encourage the company to stop playing such a devastating role in the arms trade and stick to its less harmful business areas. There was widespread criticism of Reed Elsevier by many of the professional groups who used or invested in Reed's other products. Doctors, writers, academics, librarians and investors all joined the campaign and called on the company to stop organising arms fairs. Reed's decision sent a clear signal that DSEi is a liability and that reputable businesses don't deal with the arms trade.
Clarion Events
In May 2008 DSEi, along with two other arms fairs, was sold to Clarion Events. Clarion is new to the arms business, with its exhibition portfolio including The Betting Show, The Caravan and Motorhome Show and The Baby Show (four a year). We will be putting pressure on this new owner and will continue to call on the government to end its support for DSEi.
Actions
Email Clarion Events' Chief Executive to let him know your concerns about their new area of activity.
Action Reports
Read about our protests against:
Further reading
DSEi arms fair 2005: the global arms trade comes to London
CAAT Report, August 2005 (pdf)