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

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The UN Programme of Action
• The States ensure that complete and precise records concerning the
manufacture, holding and transfer of SALW in areas under national
jurisdiction are conserved for as long as possible. These records must
be organized and maintained so as to allow the competent national
authorities to rapidly retrieve accurate information from them and
collate it (ArticleII.9.).
The Plastic Explosives Convention
• Contains no provisions relative to the registration and conservation of
data.
International regulations on the transport of dangerous goods
• All documents dealing with verification, and including notably those
concerning marking, must be maintained for at least five years by the
manufacturer. 37 The verifying bodies must conserve this same
information as long as the type of packaging remains in use, after which
they must be filed;
• The authorities do not maintain copies of this information, but the
verifying bodies are obliged to transmit it to them upon request;
• It should be noted that the Verification Institutes of three European
countries have taken steps amongst themselves and with the EU to
establish a database that places their information at the disposal of the
European Institutes. 38 This initiative could be the beginning of a wider
data exchange system.
The OAS Convention
• The States parties shall assure the maintenance for a reasonable time of
the information necessary to trace and identify illicit firearms, to enable
them to comply with their obligations relative to exchange of
information and mutual assistance (Article XI).
The SADC Protocol
• The States parties undertake to keep proper records of the markings
applied to firearms (Article 9.1.);