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

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2. The definitions of weapons, ammunition and explosives concerned by
these mechanisms vary considerably. Nevertheless, there is no real
contradiction among them—some are simply broader than others;
3 Five of the mechanisms concern essentially or only firearms; one
concerns ammunition and explosives; and another deals exclusively
with explosives. It is interesting to note that when these definitions are
“added together” they cover the entire range of SALW, including
ammunition and explosives—with the exception of antique
weapons—which brings us close to the desirable system described at
the beginning of this section.
5.2.2 Provisions Concerning Marking
The desirable system 25
• “Adequate” marking includes a unique serial number, an identifying
mark of the manufacturer, a country identifier and the year of
manufacture (e.g.: 12345678-FN-BE-01);
• Each weapon has an adequate classic marking, 26 which is applied to a
maximum number of important components, 27 and expressed in
alphanumeric language. A 10-year deadline is nevertheless granted for
the adequate classic marking to be applied to weapons that were
manufactured before the mechanism entered into force. Nevertheless,
in order to be transferred, these weapons must be marked and
registered according to the new system;
• Every State importing a weapon that does not have adequate marking:
(i) applies adequate classic marking to the weapon if it was
manufactured prior to the entry into force of the mechanism; (ii)
destroys it if it was manufactured after this date (given that it would
therefore be an illicit weapon);
• Every State importing an adequately marked weapon affixes, at a
certain distance from the main marking, two letters that allow the
importing country to be identified, and two numbers for the year of
import (e.g.: 12345678-FN-BE-01 BR-02: a weapon produced in
Belgium by the company FN in 2001, and then imported by Brazil in
2002). As explained in the section “Comparison” that follows, this
measure is foreseen in the Vienna Protocol and facilitates and increases
the chances of successful tracing;