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652 Travaux préparatoires: United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimenecessary for confiscated weapons, which did not re-enter the civilian market. One participantdrew attention to the advantages of stamp marking in terms of its technical feasibility,its cost-effectiveness and its resistance to criminal obliteration. The deliberations ofthe Technical Session on this article are reflected in the report of the Chairman(A/AC.254/L.86, paras. 18-22).2. At the fifth session of the Ad Hoc Committee, Finland submitted a paper arguingthat the requirement to mark all imported firearms with the name and address of theimporter could cause particular problems in respect of costs and legal trade of firearms. Itcould also cause problems related to the European Community legislation concerning freetrade and movement of goods in the European Union. Imported firearms not carrying propermarkings should therefore be required to be marked only with the identification number,the land code of the importing country and the year of import (see A/AC.254/CRP.22).Seventh session: 17-28 January 2000Notes by the Secretariat3. Delegations based their comments on the text of article 9 of the revised draftprotocol contained in document A/AC.254/4/Add.2/Rev.3, which was the same as thatcontained in document A/AC.254/4/Add.2/Rev.2.Rolling text (A/AC.254/4/Add.2/Rev.4)“Article 9“Marking of firearms“1. For the purposes of identifying and tracing firearms, [referred to in article2, subparagraph (c) (i), of this Protocol,] States Parties shall: 21“(a) Require, at the time of manufacture of each firearm, the appropriate markingof the name of its manufacturer, its place of manufacture and its [serial number];“[(b) Require 22 appropriate markings on each imported firearm [following itsimportation for the purpose of commercial sale within the importing country, or permanentprivate importation], permitting the identification of the importer’s name andaddress [and an individual serial number if the firearm does not bear one at the timeof import] [so that the source of the firearm can be traced]; and“(c) [[Require] the appropriate marking of any firearm confiscated or forfeited23, 24pursuant to article 7 of this Protocol that is retained for official use.21At the seventh session of the Ad Hoc Committee, the United States proposed replacing the opening words with thewords “States Parties shall adopt the following measures to mark commercially manufactured firearms”. That proposal wasopposed by most delegations as a weakening of the marking requirement.22At the seventh session of the Ad Hoc Committee, the United Arab Emirates proposed that firearms transferred acrossborders should be marked by exporters instead of importers.23At the seventh session of the Ad Hoc Committee, Japan proposed adding at the end of this subparagraph the words“except authorized samples”.24At the seventh session of the Ad Hoc Committee, there were further discussions about whether to mark firearmsonly at the time of manufacture or again as set out in subparagraphs (b) and (c). Many delegations expressed concern aboutthe costs and technical feasibility of the additional marking requirement, but it was considered that further discussions wouldbe needed to resolve the issue.