The Federative Republic of Brazil signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 30 April 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 October 1999. Brazil is a former antipersonnel mine producer, importer, and exporter. Brazil ceased production and export of antipersonnel mines in 1989. Brazil has never used antipersonnel mines. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically was enacted in 2001. In 2010 Brazil submitted its 11^th Article 7 transparency report.

Brazil completed destruction of its stockpile of approximately 27,852 antipersonnel mines in March 2003, ahead of its 1 October 2003 treaty-mandated destruction deadline. Brazil initially retained 17,000 mines for training purposes, but this was reduced to 10,051 by the end of 2009.[1] Of all States Parties, Brazil maintains the third highest number of mines retained for training.

Brazil is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines but not Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Policy

The Federative Republic of Brazil has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Brazil has asserted the military utility of cluster munitions, and insisted they are needed as a deterrent.[1] It has objected to the non-traditional diplomatic process that brought about the convention. It has said that the convention and the process did not balance legitimate defense needs with humanitarian concerns.[2] 

However, Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim has called cluster munitions an inhumane weapon that should be eliminated.[3] In December 2008, he said the government was reconsidering its position and may sign the convention in the future “for humanitarian reasons.”[4] He also expressed concerns about the convention, including that Brazil did not agree with the convention’s definition of a cluster munition as it opened the possibility of production of cluster munitions by other states and was thus discriminatory.[5]

On 3 February 2009, Congressional Deputy Fernando Gabeira (PV-RJ) introduced Bill 4590/09 in the Chamber of Deputies to ban the use, production, import, and export of cluster munitions.[6]  As of August 2010, the draft law was being considered by the Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense, which held a public hearing on 4 May 2010.[7]

Brazil did not engage in the work of the convention in 2009 or 2010 through July. It was invited to, but did not attend, the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions in June 2009, the Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean on Cluster Munitions in Santiago, Chile in September 2009, or the International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, also held in Santiago, in June 2010.

Brazil participated minimally in the Oslo Process that produced the convention in 2007 and 2008. It did not attend the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, even as an observer.[8] During the Oslo Process, Brazil maintained that cluster munitions were effective militarily and that existing international humanitarian law and the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), specifically CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war, were the most appropriate way to address cluster munitions.[9] It has criticized two provisions in the convention: the provision that excludes from the ban munitions that contain submunitions but may not have the same negative humanitarian effects as cluster munitions, and the provision designed to facilitate “interoperability” (joint military operations with states not party).[10]

Brazil is a party to the CCW, but has not yet ratified CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Brazil participated in the CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2009 and 2010 through July. It made statements critical of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and countries that have joined it.[11] At an April 2009 CCW session, Brazil lauded the “enormous” progress made in the CCW and claimed that “almost the entirety of cluster munitions” are not covered by the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[12] Brazil has said that it is willing to ban some cluster munitions that do not have certain technical features, as long as there is a transition period before the ban takes effect.[13]

In mid-May 2010, the CMC held a week of action to convince Brazil to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions.^[14] Throughout 2009 and the first half of 2010, the Brazil Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs worked to encourage Brazil’s signature to the convention, including through collaboration with Members of Congress, engagement with government officials, and a petition-collection drive and other awareness-building activities.^[15]

Brazil is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Brazil has stated several times that it has never used cluster munitions.[16] It produces, exports, and stockpiles cluster munitions. 

At the May 2010 hearing on cluster munitions in the Chamber of Deputies, the Ministry of Defense stated that national military doctrine prohibits the use of cluster munitions in urban areas. It also stated that Brazil’s stockpiles of cluster munitions are limited. The cluster bombs held by the Air Force should be destroyed soon because they are out of date. It also asserted that that Brazil needs to retain its cluster munition production capacity at current levels in order to support local defense manufacturing capacity.[17]

At least three companies have produced cluster munitions in Brazil, according to the companies’ own materials and to standard reference works. Avribrás Aeroespacial SA has produced the ASTROS family of surface-to-surface rockets with submunition warheads. At the hearing in May 2010, a representative from Avibrás said that the company generates US$60–70 million per year from cluster munitions and claimed that cluster bombs produced by Avibrás have a failure rate of less than 1%.[18]

These weapons have been exported to Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.[19] Brazil also exported the ASTROS system to Malaysia in 2002, and an additional sale of more launch units was completed in 2010, but it is not known if the ammunition types include the variant with a submunition payload.[20]

The ASTROS Multiple Launch Rocket System was used by Saudi Arabian forces against Iraqi forces during the battle of Khafji in January 1991, leaving behind significant numbers of unexploded submunitions.[21]

The company Ares Aeroespacial e Defesa Ltda has produced the FZ-100 70mm air-to-surface rockets, akin to the Hydra M261 multipurpose submunitions.[22] Additionally, Target Engenharia et Comércio Ltda. has produced two types of cluster bombs (BLG-120 and BLG-252) for the Brazilian Air Force and reportedly for export.[23]

In a May 2010 letter to the Minister of Defense, the CMC wrote, “There are a number of positive steps Brazil could take as it considers joining the Convention. Most notably, Brazil could clarify if any production of cluster munitions is ongoing and it could put in place a moratorium on use, production and transfer…. As a confidence-building measure, Brazil should provide complete information on its stockpile of cluster munitions.”[24]