To all corners of the world

- What is he working on? said Åse.
– Do you mean my father? in Ole.
– Yes?
– I do not know exactly what he does, but he calls himself turns. He wears overalls when he gets to work. And I do not think he's thinking a thought while he's there, if you know what I mean. He does not think much otherwise either, by the way.
– Maybe he does not tell you everything he thinks, Åse said.

How to open the novel In Vivo by Geir Gulliksen and Håvard Syvertsen. Ole's father works at the weapons factory in Kongsberg.

As Ole's father does not talk so much that his job is to produce weapons, the official Norway does not like to talk about the fact that this so-called peace country, the humanitarian superpower Norway, is one of the world's largest arms exporters. 10. A hearing will be held in the Storting on October, where a number of new proposals for changes in Norwegian arms exports will be presented.

New export record

In 2006, Norway was the world's largest arms exporter in terms of population, according to figures from SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. So in 2007, Norway set a record, with the largest arms export ever, according to Statistics Norway. Over the past year, however, several countries have significantly increased their exports, so that Norway is no longer the world's largest arms exporter per capita, despite Norwegian arms exports also increasing by four percent from 2006 to 2007.

Last year, Norway exported defense equipment for 3.648.937.000, ie NOK 3,6 billion. Some of it goes straight to countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. These are only so-called B-materials, which are not weapons, but other military equipment. Norway also exports weapons to countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and the United States.

One of the types of weapons most at risk of getting lost is small arms and associated ammunition. Handgun ammunition accounts for a large proportion of Norway's arms exports. The Norwegian state owns 50 percent of Nammo, the world's fourth largest ammunition producer. Nammo has factories at Raufoss, in Sweden and Finland.
– There is a real risk that Norwegian-produced ammunition can be re-exported to states the Storting has defined as countries where Norwegian ammunition will not end up, says Camilla Sandbakken, advisor in the development policy department at Norwegian Church Aid.

As of today, Norway requires an end-user declaration from all countries, with the exception of precisely the NATO countries and the Nordic countries. An end-user statement is a guarantee that weapons will not be resold from the buyer.

Alexander Harang is an expert on arms trafficking and in the spring of 2008 wrote a report on behalf of Church Aid in which he documents that both the US and several of the new NATO countries, such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, export small arms ammunition to a number of countries that Norway says no to selling weapons to. These NATO countries are all customers of Nammo. The report concludes that Norwegian export regulations do not guarantee that Norwegian military equipment can be resold. Norwegian-produced weapons and ammunition can thus end up in all corners of the world.

An estimated 500.000 people die each year as a result of the use of small arms. 1300 deaths every day, and more than one million people are injured annually. Control of the proliferation of small arms and ammunition is therefore considered very important for development in poor countries.

Camilla Sandbakken believes that the government should introduce a re-export guarantee for the export of small arms ammunition, also for NATO countries and the Nordic countries. This is a new proposal, which is not as comprehensive as an end-user declaration, and will be launched for the Storting on October 10.

- Not a big problem

However, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Raymond Johansen (Ap) rejects a tightening of export rules.
- Can the government guarantee that Norwegian weapons or ammunition will not be resold and end up in areas where the government does not want it to end up, such as Sri Lanka, Congo or Saudi Arabia?
– Defense equipment exported from Norway is only for use by those who buy it, and we do not export weapons to the countries you mention. We require an end-user declaration from most countries, and if the countries we sell to want to re-export, Norwegian approval of this is required, Johansen answers.

- But Norway does not require an end-user declaration from other NATO countries, and both the USA and some of the new NATO countries, such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, sell weapons to countries Norway does not want to sell weapons to?
– We have long and good traditions for cooperation with our allies, and we trust our allies.

- But there is thus no guarantee that weapons can be resold from our allies to the countries I mentioned?
– No, but we do not know of many examples of re-export, and do not see this as a big problem, says Johansen.

Thus, the chance that the new proposal for a re-export guarantee will be adopted is small. But there is some movement in the political landscape on this issue. SV has long been very critical of the government's policy in this area, and Storting politician Bjørn Jacobsen (SV) has stated that Norwegian arms exports are systematically destroying Norwegian development policy. The Center Party's defense policy spokesman, Alf Ivar Samuelsen, is now also in favor of end-user declarations. – The Center Party wants an end-user declaration to be introduced for all countries. An interim solution is well worth considering, provided that the final goal is not lost sight of, says Alf Ivar Samuelsen, parliamentary representative for Sp til Ny Tid.

Thus, it is up to the Labor Party. Both Oslo Ap, Sør-Trøndelag Ap and AUF have called for stricter export controls, but they have a bit to go before they join the mother party and Raymond Johansen.

Brazil is noticing the bullets

A large proportion of the weapons and ammunition used illegally by non-governmental actors were initially produced and exported legally, but have come to a standstill. In Brazil, this has been a major problem. For this reason, the organization Viva Rio has long fought for, and ultimately for breakthrough, for all ammunition to be labeled so that it can be traced back to the manufacturer.
– Yes, Norway should also laser mark all ammunition, says Pablo Dreyfus, research manager at Viva Rio, in an e-mail to Ny Tid.

- If the buyer is allowed to decide that the bullets should only be marked with production data, this is not sufficient to be able to track the bullets, Dreyfus says. He believes that marking with a unique number is also needed, which makes it possible to check who was the first buyer afterwards.

- It is not sufficient that this number is on the packaging, it must be laser marked on the ammunition itself, says Dreyfus.

The Norwegian export regulations do not impose requirements on how Norwegian-produced ammunition should be labeled. Camilla Sandbakken in Norwegian Church Aid agrees with the requirement that the bullets should be laser-labeled and believes that a re-export guarantee from the buyer will also create an incentive to monitor where the Norwegian ammunition ends up.

- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should act as a control authority for such a guarantee, with a duty to provide information to the Storting in the event of a breach of the guarantee, she says.
Laser marking of each cartridge with a unique code for each batch of ammunition, coupled with careful accounting of the original batch of the batch, will allow the first buyer of the ammunition to be identified. When it is possible to trace the ammunition back to the seller and the first buyer, it will be more important for them to prevent the ammunition from being lost, which in turn can reduce the availability of ammunition for unwanted recipients.

The technology used to mark ammunition already exists. The Belgian company EDB supplies the technology to Brazil, Germany and Austria. It will cost Nammo a little over half a million NOK to buy this technology.

- Will Norway follow Brazil's example and put in place a labeling system that makes it possible to find out who produced sleeves you find out in the field? And will the government then pursue more active tracking of Norwegian-produced ammunition to find out where it ends up?

- We are interested in creating an international tracking system for marking small arms, and will work actively to put this in place, Raymond Johansen answers.

- Norwegian Church Aid believes that the current labeling of Norwegian ammunition is not good enough to trace the bullets back to the manufacturer?

- Norway already labels all ammunition so that it can be traced back to the manufacturer, so here we probably disagree with Norwegian Church Aid about the facts, he says.

Camilla Sandbakken is not happy with the answer from Johansen, and believes that as long as the customer defines what kind of marking should be on the ball, it will be difficult to trace where it comes from. She challenges the government to set a standard that will apply to all ammunition sold from Norway with the first buyer, manufacturer and lot number on each sleeve, and that these details must be available to independent investigators.

- This will make it possible for outside parties to track the ammunition, which will have a preventive effect in relation to resale and leaks to the illegal market, Sandbakken says.

Disappears into the night

In 2004, the Storting agreed to investigate the possibility of giving the elected officials access to export licenses for arms exports. How has this decision been followed up?
– The Storting has gained a broad insight in that we present a report to the Storting on Norwegian arms exports every single year. They are better informed than ever before. We must also take into account that the companies are in a competitive relationship, Raymond Johansen answers.

- Arms exports are very controversial. Among other things, it has been documented that Norwegian explosives, which are part of American Hellfire rockets, have been used against Palestinian civilians. Why should Norway export weapons at all? If ethics stands against jobs: What is most important to the government?

- This government has no plans to lay off jobs in the Norwegian arms industry. I am confident that the strict Norwegian regulations do not compromise on good ethics, so jobs are not put before ethical considerations. On the other hand, I am sure that the strict rules create some frustration in the Norwegian arms industry, which would like to export more, Johansen concludes.

On October 10, the new proposals will be submitted to the Storting. The debate that follows will show whether Norway will continue as the father of Ole, from the novel In Vivo, and speak nothing in particular of Norwegian weapons production. In this case, Norwegian weapons will continue to disappear from Raufoss and Kongsberg, beyond the borders and into the great darkness, just as in the novel by Geir Gulliksen and Håvard Syvertsen:

As they sat there, the gate must have been opened. A big trailer came rolling. It shone in the rain and the light from the floodlights. The trailer drove slowly past the bus, the cab was dark, and it was as if no one was sitting behind the wheel, thought Åsa. Just behind came a trailer, just as shiny, and with an equally tender cab. The two cars passed them almost without a sound, swung out onto the main road and disappeared.
– What was that? said Åse.
"You know that," said Ole.
– I have never seen it before, said Åse.
– They often drive in the evening or at night, Ole said.