Exports of Firearms

On April 18, 1998, President Clinton announced at the Santiago Summit in Chile that the United States would promulgate regulations based on the Organization of American States (OAS) Model Regulations for the Control of the International Movement of Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition (referred to as the ``OAS Model Regulations''). The Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) is revising the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement export control measures agreed to by members of the OAS and set forth in the OAS Model Regulations. The OAS Model Regulations were developed to assist OAS member countries in implementing the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (Firearms Convention). OAS member countries agreed to impose an import and export license requirement to effectively combat the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, ammunition, explosives, and other related materials. Though the Firearms Convention has yet to enter into force, most OAS member countries, including the United States, are taking actions in advance of the Convention's entry into force based on the OAS agreed Model Regulations to control the flow of firearms items because of their links to such activities as drug trafficking, terrorism, transnational organized crime, and mercenary and other criminal activities.