Convinced that supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime with an international instrument against the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition will be useful in preventing and combating those crimes, Have agreed as follows: I. General provisions Article 1. Relation with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 1. This Protocol supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. It shall be interpreted together with the Convention. 2. The provisions of the Convention shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to this Protocol unless otherwise provided herein. 3. The offences established in accordance with article 5 of this Protocol shall be regarded as offences established in accordance with the Convention. Article 2. Statement of purpose The purpose of this Protocol is to promote, facilitate and strengthen cooperation among States Parties in order to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition. Article 3. Use of terms For the purposes of this Protocol: (a) “Firearm” shall mean any portable barrelled weapon that expels, is designed to expel or may be readily converted to expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of an explosive, excluding antique firearms or their replicas. Antique firearms and their replicas shall be defined in accordance with domestic law. In no case, however, shall antique firearms include firearms manufactured after 1899; (b) “Parts and components” shall mean any element or replacement element specifically designed for a firearm and essential to its operation, including 72