The Government has just issued Decree No. 149/2024/ND-CP detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Management and Use of Weapons, Explosives and Supporting Tools.
This Decree applies to agencies, organizations, enterprises and individuals involved in the management and use of weapons, military explosives, support tools and the production, trading, export, import, transportation and use of highly lethal knives.
According to the Decree, to trade, export, or import weapons, the following conditions must be met as prescribed in Article 9:
Organizations and enterprises under the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense that trade in weapons must be assigned by the Minister of Public Security or the Minister of National Defense to trade in weapons; in the case of organizations and enterprises trading in military weapons, they must have a Certificate of eligibility for security and order.
Managers and persons directly involved in weapons trading must be trained in weapons management and fire prevention and fighting; warehouses, storage facilities, means of transport, equipment and tools used in trading must be suitable, ensuring safety in fire prevention and fighting, incident response and environmental protection in weapons management, preservation and transportation.
Organizations and enterprises exporting and importing weapons must be organizations and enterprises licensed to trade in weapons and assigned by the Minister of Public Security or the Minister of National Defense to export and import weapons.
Organizations and enterprises that are allowed to trade, export, and import weapons may only trade, export, and import weapons under a license issued by a competent authority; weapons must meet standards, technical regulations, types, brands, serial numbers, symbols, country of manufacture, and year of manufacture for each type of weapon;
Regularly maintain conditions of security, order, fire prevention, fire fighting, incident prevention and response, environmental protection, and safety assurance in business activities, weapons export and import.
This Decree takes effect from January 1, 2025, except for the case specified in Clause 2, Article 23 (Clause 2 of Article 23 provides as follows: The provisions in Articles 9, 10 and 11 of this Decree take effect from July 1, 2025; the provisions in Article 7 of this Decree take effect from January 1, 2026.).
Article 9 stipulates the conditions for trading, exporting and importing weapons; Article 10 stipulates the procedures for granting licenses for exporting and importing weapons; and Article 11 stipulates the responsibilities of organizations and enterprises that are allowed to trade, export and import weapons.
