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

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serial number of the firearm. This information provides an identifying
mark specific to each small arm (Article II.2.B.1.);
• All such marks should be permanent and placed on the firearm at the
site of manufacture (Article II.2.B.1.);
• The participating States will not allow any transfer of unmarked small
arms. Moreover, they will only transfer or re-transfer small arms bearing
a unique marking (Article III.B.7.);
• The participating States ensure, as far as possible and within their
competence, that all small arms manufactured under their authority
outside their territory are marked to the same standard (Article
II.2.B.1.);
• Should unmarked firearms be discovered in the course of routine
management of existing stockpiles, the participating States will destroy
them, or, if these weapons are brought into service or exported, they
will mark them beforehand with an identifying mark specific to each
small arm (Article II.2.B.2.);
• The participating States agree to conduct before 30 June 2001 an
exchange of information on their national marking systems used in the
manufacture and/or importation, and they will update this information
to reflect any change in their national marking systems (Article
II.2.D.1.).
Comparison:
1. Contents of the information marked during the manufacturing process:
most of the mechanisms explicitly foresee a unique serial number,
country and manufacturer identifiers. The OSCE Document is the only
one to also foresee an indication of the year of manufacture. The
mention of the year is nevertheless crucial to be able to differentiate
weapons manufactured before the entry into force of the mechanism
from those manufactured subsequently, and which come therefore
within the provisions of its application;
2. Standards for marking imported firearms: the Vienna Protocol and the
OAS Convention both foresee marking upon import; the former simply
mentions the importing State and the year, while the second permits
the precise identification of the importer. These markings, and in
particular the simple marking that clearly indicates the country of
import, greatly facilitate the stages of the tracing operation by
permitting one to read directly on the firearm the countries into which
it has previously been imported. An investigator can then simply turn