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ECOWAS Member States are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cote D’Ivore, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
The ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Their Ammunition and other Related Materials was adopted on 14 June 2006 and will come into force on the date of the deposit of the 9th instrument of ratification. To avoid any political or legal gap ECOWAS has agreed that the provisions of the ECOWAS Moratorium (which expired on 31 October 2007) will continue to apply until the entry into force of the Convention.
Individual export licence applications for the supply of items covered by the Moratorium (see Annex A) are assessed under the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. In addition we will continue, as requested by ECOWAS, to take the provisions of the Moratorium and the ECOWAS Code of Conduct fully into account when considering those applications. An export licence for small arms and light weapons, components or ammunition will not be issued unless the ECOWAS Commission has issued an exception to the Moratorium.
An exporter in possession of an order from an end-user in an ECOWAS Member State must provide a copy of the ECOWAS Commission’s confirmation that other Member States have no objection to the import of the small arms, light weapons, components or ammunition concerned along with other documentation on end-use, with the export licence application. Where an order is from an individual a copy of the ECOWAS Commission’s approval must be provided, along with the other documentation on end-use, with the export licence application. Where the application is for a resident of a Member State for hunting or sporting purposes the application is processed by National Commissions and recommended to the ECOWAS Commission for approval.
Visitors wishing to take arms into any ECOWAS Member State need to apply in advance to the competent authorities and declare such arms on entry. If entry is approved the competent authorities will issue visitors with an entry certificate on arrival and an exit certificate upon departure.
To apply for the Commission’s confirmation that the exception is agreed, the relevant authorities in the ECOWAS Member State must apply to the
ECOWAS Commission,E-mail: info@ecowas.int
Light and Small Arms Registry: Technical Specifications
| Category | Weapon | Description |
I | Pistol | Firearm designed to be held and fired with one hand |
| Revolver | Pistol using a revolving cylinder with several cartridge chambers |
| Semi-Automatic | Pistol using gas energy to feed cartridges from a magazine into a chamber |
II | Shotgun | Firearm that shoots ammunition through a smooth bore |
| Single/ Bolt/Pump | Shotgun using a mechanical action to chamber cartridges |
| Semi-Automatic | Rifle using gas energy to chamber cartridges |
III A | Rifle (Non-Military) | For sporting and hunting purposes |
III B | Rifle (Military) | Firearm with a rifled bore, designed to be used with two hands, fired from shoulder and using very high velocity cartridges |
| Simple / Bolt/Pump | Rifle using mechanical energy to chamber the next cartridge |
| Semi-Automatic | Rifle using gas energy to chamber cartridges from a magazine single chamber |
| Automatic | Rifle that fires more than one cartridge when triggered, normally with a selector switch for operation in this mode. |
IV | Sub-machine gun | Full or semi-automatic firearm which fires pistol ammunition and requires two hands to hold |
V | Machine Gun | Pneumatic, automatic firearm fitted with a carbine barrel which uses carbine bullets or bullets of even heavier calibre |
| Light Weight | One-man machine gun usually fired from bipod legs using magazine belted cartridges |
| General Purpose | Two or more men, crew-served machine gun fired from a big tripod, usually using belted cartridges |
| Heavy | Two or more men, crew-served machine gun fired from a tripod vehicle mount using belted cartridges |
| Auto Cannons | Two or more men, crew-served machine gun fired from a vehicle ground mount |
VI | Anti-tank mortars, Howitzers | Weapon firing projectiles which use chemical energy to explode shrapnel |
| Portable - 1 Man | One shot or semi-automatic explosive launcher carried and fired by a single person |
| Portable - Crew | One shot explosive launcher transported by vehicle or by its crew |
| Automatic - Crew | Semi or fully automatic explosive launcher transported by vehicle or by its crew |
VIl | Landmines | High explosive device placed on or beneath the soil, that is designed to explode either on contact or in near proximity to a person or vehicle |
Small Arms Category Description
Category | Weapon | Undersized | Medium/ | Oversized | Special |
I | Pistol |
|
|
|
|
| Revolver | 32 cal | .38 to. 40 cal | .41 cal | Hollow point teflon |
| Semi-Automatic | .32 cal | 38 to. 40 cal | .41 cal | Hollow point teflon Liquid filled |
II | Shotgun |
|
|
|
|
| Single/bolt/pump | 10 gauge | 16 to 12 gauge | 20 gauge | Flé-chette |
| Semi-automatic | 10 gauge | 16 to 12 gauge | 20 gauge | Flé-chette |
III A | Rifle (Non-Military) |
|
|
|
|
|
| 5 mm | 5.1 to 8 mm | 9 mm |
|
III B | Rifle (Military) |
|
|
|
|
| Single/bolt/pump | 5 mm | 5.1 to 8mm | 9 mm |
|
| Semi-Automatic | 5 mm | 5.1 to 8mm | 9 mm |
|
| Automatic | 5 mm | 5.1 to 8mm | 9 mm |
|
| Special |
|
|
| Grenade |
IV | Sub-Machine Gun |
|
|
|
|
|
| .32 cal | .38 to. 40 cal | .41 cal | Hollow point teflon |
|
| 6 mm | 7 to 9 mm | 10 mm | Liquid filled |
V | Machine Gun |
|
|
|
|
| Light Weight | 5 mm |
|
|
|
| General Purpose | 5 mm | 5.54 to 8 mm | 9 mm |
|
| Heavy |
| 5.54 to 8 mm | 9 mm |
|
| Auto Cannons |
|
| 12 to 16 mm | Grenade |
|
|
|
| 17 mm | Explosive |
VI | Anti-tank mortars, Howitzers |
|
|
|
|
| Portable - 1 Man | < 30 mm | 30 to 40 mm | 41 mm | Flé-chette |
| Portable - 1 Crew | 60 mm | 61 to 84 mm | 85 mm | White Phosphorous |
| Automatic - Crew | < 30 mm | 30 to 40 mm | 41 mm | Grenade |
VII | Landmines |
|
|
|
|
|
| 200g | 200g to 1.4 kg | 1.5 kg |
|
Export Control Organisation
Created: March 2008
