The Scope and Implications of a Tracing Mechanism for Small Arms ...

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With the scope of the Protocol firmly in mind, it should nevertheless
be possible to establish a marking, record-keeping and tracing mechanism
that covers the vast majority of transfers and transactions. Consequently,
existing practices can be expanded to embrace virtually every aspect of the
market, as follows:
• There should be no bar on the international free circulation of
information individually identifying all lost or stolen SALW. The correct
vehicle is the Interpol IWETS database and it should be mandatory for
every country to ensure the system is updated with relevant weapons.
• Similarly, following the UNLiREC/OAS/CICAD initiative, there should
be no bar on the free circulation of information individually identifying
every transfer or transaction on the commercial market involving
surplus ex-military small arms and light weapons, including those sold
as surplus stocks by State-owned arms industries. It should be
mandatory for member States of economic regions to forward the
information to a regional database, including all relevant
manufacturers’, import and other supplementary markings to
individually identify each weapon and the records should be crossreferenced
with the parties involved in the transfer or transaction.
• With regard to transfers and transactions involving State-owned or State
controlled military stocks, at the very least the weapons should be
uniquely identifiable and marked as having originated from one and
then imported by another. Records in both countries (and any
subsequent) should provide sufficient detail to enable subsequent caseby-case
tracing enquiries to individually attribute a specific weapon to
the party having last recorded legal possession, including the parties
involved in acquiring decommissioned ex-military stocks. In the latter
case, as with Switzerland, 10 each weapon should be clearly marked to
show it is no longer in a military arsenal.
Complementary examples of existing good practices can be found in
treaties and protocols involving member States of the UN, OSCE, EAPC,
NATO, OAS, EU and CIP amongst others.