Report: Regional seminar on the Marking and Tracing of Weapons

On 14-15 September 2010 in Belgrade, SEESAC organized a regional seminar on marking and tracing of weapons. Information about the presentations and the group discussions is available in the seminar report, which can be downloaded here.

The goal of the seminar was to provide an update on the adherence to international instruments, the adoption of national legislation on marking and tracing in the countries from the Western Balkans and to present an overview of the implementation of their national legislation. A specific objective was to review the implementation of the requirement for marking of imported weapons under the UN Firearms Protocol.

The following main issues were identified: countries face difficulties with the implementation of their legal and political commitments in the area of marking and tracing of firearms. The main difficulties are in the field of marking of imported weapons, ballistic tracing, the development of effective weapons registration and record-keeping systems, and the participation in information exchange mechanisms.

The seminar was funded by the European Union (EU) and it is an activity under the EU Council Decision 2010/179/CFSP in support of SEESAC arms control activities in the Western Balkans, in the framework of the EU Strategy to combat the illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition.