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

162
manner in national (and possibly international) registers, which must
also include the weapon’s marking;
3. The tracing operation: in order to find the last legal owner of the
weapon 2 and to reconstruct the course followed by the weapon, States
must cooperate by exchanging information at their disposal concerning
the weapon in question.
It should be noted that used alone, the term “tracing” can sometimes
designate all three of these operations, or only the last two. In order to avoid
confusion, we prefer to use other expressions such as “tracing operation” or
“exchange of information required for tracing” to describe the third
operation.
The purpose of this study is to provide a clear summary of the main
mechanisms and initiatives that currently exist with respect to tracing, and
to compare them.
We begin by presenting and comparing the main existing international
and (sub-)regional mechanisms (Section 5.2). They have all been selected
for their legally-binding nature or because of the fact that they impose
certain obligations on States. It should be noted, however, that some of
them have not yet entered into force:
1. Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms,
Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime) 3
(hereafter referred to as the “Vienna Protocol”);
2. The UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects 4
(hereafter referred to as the “UN Programme of Action”);
3. The Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of
Detection 5 (hereafter referred to as the “Plastic Explosives
Convention”);
4. The European Agreement for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by
Road (ADR) and the UN Model Regulations on the Transport of
Dangerous Goods 6 (hereafter referred to as the “International
regulations on the transport of dangerous goods”);
5. The Convention of the Organization of American States Against Illicit
Firearms Trafficking 7 (hereafter referred to as the “OAS Convention”);