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The UN firearms protocol: considerations for the UN 2001 conference.
O'Callaghan, G. Meek, S.
O'Callaghan, G.
Meek, S.
Publication Date
2001
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Keywords
UN 2001 Conference on The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, Small arms trade, Light weapons trade, Illicit trafficking, Weapons proliferation reduction, International Action Programme, Supplier restraint, Transparancy, International co-operation, Firearms Protoocol, Illegal arms trade
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© 2001 The Authors, British American Security Information Council (BASIC), International Alert and Saferworld. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk).
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Abstract
Since April 1998, the Vienna-based UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Commission
on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice has been negotiating the draft Protocol Against the
Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition
(hereafter referred to as the Firearms Protocol). This Protocol will be the first global measure
regulating international transfers of small arms and light weapons, and should have a tremendous
impact on both the legal and the illicit manufacture and trade in firearms.
The draft agreement seeks to combat and criminalise trafficking in firearms, through the
development of harmonised international standards governing the manufacture, possession
and transfer of commercial shipments of these weapons. While the final outcome of the
Protocol relies on the outcome of negotiations in February 2001, the draft agreement contains
provisions which commit states, among other things, to:
l Adopt legislative measures to criminalise the illicit manufacture, trafficking, possession
and use of firearms;
l Maintain detailed records on the import, export and in-transit movements of firearms;
l Adopt an international system for marking firearms at the time of manufacture and each
time they are imported;
l Establish a harmonised licensing system governing the import, export, in-transit
movement and re-export of firearms;
l Exchange information regarding authorised producers, dealers, importers and exporters,
the routes used by illicit traffickers, best practice in combating trafficking in order to
enhance states ability to prevent, detect and investigate illicit trafficking;
l Co-operate at the bilateral, regional and international level to prevent, combat and
eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms; and
l Consider developing systems to require arms brokers, traders and forwarders
to register and obtain licences for their transactions.
The Protocol places a premium on international co-operation, information exchange and
transparency. The provisions in the Firearms Protocol are an important complement to those
being developed for the UN 2001 Conference. Issues such as improving the ability to trace
small arms and light weapons through effective marking systems, regulating the activities
of arms brokers and building international norms on the responsible disposal of surplus small
arms are common to both initiatives.
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published version paper
Citation
O¿Callaghan, G. and Meek, S. (2001). The UN firearms protocol: considerations for the UN 2001 conference. London: British American Security Information Council (BASIC), International Alert and Saferworld. Biting the Bullet Briefing Papers. Briefing 4.
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Briefing Paper