Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms

 

Article I

Definitions

For the purposes of this Convention, the following definitions shall apply:

1. “Illicit manufacturing”: the manufacture or assembly of firearms,
ammunition, explosives, and other related materials:
a. from components or parts illicitly trafficked; or

b. without a license from a competent governmental authority of the State Party
where the manufacture or assembly takes place; or

c. without marking the firearms that require marking at the time of
manufacturing.

2. “Illicit trafficking”: the import, export, acquisition, sale, delivery,
movement, or transfer of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related
materials from or across the territory of one State Party to that of another
State Party, if any one of the States Parties concerned does not authorize it.

3. “Firearms”:

a. any barreled weapon which will or is designed to or may be readily converted
to expel a bullet or projectile by the action of an explosive, except antique
firearms manufactured before the 20th Century or their replicas; or

b. any other weapon or destructive device such as any explosive, incendiary or
gas bomb, grenade, rocket, rocket launcher, missile, missile system, or mine.

4. “Ammunition”: the complete round or its components, including cartridge
cases, primers, propellant powder, bullets, or projectiles that are used in any
firearm.

5. “Explosives”: any substance or article that is made,
manufactured, or used to produce an explosion, detonation, or propulsive or
pyrotechnic effect, except:

a. substances and articles that are not in and of themselves explosive; or

b. substances and articles listed in the Annex to this Convention.

6. “Other related materials”: any component, part, or replacement part of a
firearm, or an accessory which can be attached to a firearm.

7. “Controlled delivery”: the technique of allowing illicit or suspect
consignments of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials to
pass out of, through, or into the territory of one or more states, with the
knowledge and under the supervision of their competent authorities, with a view
to identifying persons involved in the commission of offenses referred to in
Article IV of this Convention.

Article II

Purpose

The purpose of this Convention is:

to prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking
in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials;

to promote and facilitate cooperation and exchange of information and experience
among States Parties to prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicitmanufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other
related materials.

Article III

Sovereignty

1. States Parties shall carry out the obligations under this Convention in a
manner consistent with the principles of sovereign equality and territorial
integrity of states and that of nonintervention in the domestic affairs of other
states.

2. A State Party shall not undertake in the territory of another State Party
the exercise of jurisdiction and performance of functions which are exclusively
reserved to the authorities of that other State Party by its domestic law.

Article IV

Legislative Measures

1. States Parties that have not yet done so shall adopt the necessary
legislative or other measures to establish as criminal offenses under their
domestic law the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms,
ammunition, explosives, and other related materials.

2. Subject to the respective constitutional principles and basic concepts of
the legal systems of the States Parties, the criminal offenses established
pursuant to the foregoing paragraph shall include participation in, association
or conspiracy to commit, attempts to commit, and aiding, abetting, facilitating,
and counseling the commission of said offenses.

Article V

Jurisdiction

1. Each State Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to
establish its jurisdiction over the offenses it has established in accordance
with this Convention when the offense in question is committed in its territory.

2. Each State Party may adopt such measures as may be necessary to establish
its jurisdiction over the offenses it has established in accordance with this
Convention when the offense is committed by one of its nationals or by a person
who habitually resides in its territory.

3. Each State Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to
establish its jurisdiction over the offenses it has established in accordance
with this Convention when the alleged criminal is present in its territory and
it does not extradite such person to another country on the ground of the
nationality of the alleged criminal.

4. This Convention does not preclude the application of any other rule of
criminal jurisdiction established by a State Party under its domestic law.

Article VI Marking of Firearms

1. For the purposes of identification and tracing of the firearms referred to
in Article 1.3.a, States Parties shall:

a. require, at the time of manufacture, appropriate markings of the name of
manufacturer, place of manufacture, and serial number;

b. require appropriate markings on imported firearms permitting the
identification of the importer’s name and address; and

c. require appropriate markings on any firearms confiscated or forfeited
pursuant to Article VII.1 that are retained for official use.

2. The firearms referred to in Article 1.3.b should be marked appropriately
at the time of manufacture, if possible.

Article VII

Confiscation or Forfeiture

1. States Parties undertake to confiscate or forfeit firearms, ammunition,
explosives, and other related materials that have been illicitly manufactured or
trafficked.

2. States Parties shall adopt the necessary measures to ensure that all
firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials seized,
confiscated, or forfeited as the result of illicit manufacturing or trafficking
do not fall into the hands of private individuals or businesses through auction,
sale, or other disposal.

Article VIII

Security Measures

States Parties, in an effort to eliminate loss or diversion, undertake to
adopt the necessary measures to ensure the security of firearms, ammunition,
explosives, and other related materials imported into, exported from, or in
transit through their respective territories.

Article IX

Export, Import, and Transit Licenses or Authorizations

1. States Parties shall establish or maintain an effective system of export,
import, and international transit licenses or authorizations for transfers of
firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials.

2. States Parties shall not permit the transit of firearms, ammunition,
explosives, and other related materials until the receiving State Party issues
the corresponding license or authorization.

3. States Parties, before releasing shipments of firearms, ammunition,
explosives, and other related materials for export, shall ensure that the
importing and in-transit countries have issued the necessary licenses or
authorizations.

4. The importing State Party shall inform the exporting State Party, upon
request, of the receipt of dispatched shipments of firearms, ammunition,
explosives, and other related materials.

Article X

Strengthening of Controls at Export Points

Each State Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to detect and
prevent illicit trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other
related materials between its territory and that of other States Parties, by
strengthening controls at export points.

Article XI

Recordkeeping

States Parties shall assure the maintenance for a reasonable time of the
information necessary to trace and identify illicitly manufactured and illicitly
trafficked firearms to enable them to comply with their obligations under
Articles XIII and XVII.

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms 2, Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms 3, International Conventions from 1991, Multilateral treaties: Organization of American States, Treaties, country.