ATF eRegulations

§ 555.180 Prohibitions relating to unmarked plastic explosives.

1. a.(a) No person shall manufacture any plastic explosive that does not contain a detection agent.

2. b.(b) No person shall import or bring into the United States, or export from the United States, any plastic explosive that does not contain a detection agent. This paragraph does not apply to the importation or bringing into the United States, or the exportation from the United States, of any plastic explosive that was imported or brought into, or manufactured in the United States prior to April 24, 1996, by or on behalf of any agency of the United States performing military or police functions (including any military reserve component) or by or on behalf of the National Guard of any State, not later than 15 years after the date of entry into force of the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives with respect to the United States, i.e., not later than June 21, 2013.

3. c.(c) No person shall ship, transport, transfer, receive, or possess any plastic explosive that does not contain a detection agent. This paragraph does not apply to:

   1. 1.(1) The shipment, transportation, transfer, receipt, or possession of any plastic explosive that was imported or brought into, or manufactured in the United States prior to April 24, 1996, by any person during the period beginning on that date and ending on April 24, 1999; or

   2. 2.(2) The shipment, transportation, transfer, receipt, or possession of any plastic explosive that was imported or brought into, or manufactured in the United States prior to April 24, 1996, by or on behalf of any agency of the United States performing a military or police function (including any military reserve component) or by or on behalf of the National Guard of any State, not later than 15 years after the date of entry into force of the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives with respect to the United States, i.e., not later than June 21, 2013.

4. d.(d) When used in this subpart, terms are defined as follows:

   1. 1.(1) Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives means the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purposes of Detection, Done at Montreal on 1 March 1991.

   2. 2.(2) “Date of entry into force” of the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives means that date on which the Convention enters into force with respect to the U.S. in accordance with the provisions of Article XIII of the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives. The Convention entered into force on June 21, 1998.

   3. 3.(3) Detection agent means any one of the substances specified in this paragraph when introduced into a plastic explosive or formulated in such explosive as a part of the manufacturing process in such a manner as to achieve homogeneous distribution in the finished explosive, including—

      1. i.(i) Ethylene glycol dinitrate (EGDN), C₂ H₄ (NO₃)₂, molecular weight 152, when the minimum concentration in the finished explosive is 0.2 percent by mass;

      2. ii.(ii) 2,3-Dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane (DMNB), C₆ H₁₂ (NO₂)₂, molecular weight 176, when the minimum concentration in the finished explosive is 0.1 percent by mass;

      3. iii.(iii) Para-Mononitrotoluene (p-MNT), C₇ H₇ NO₂, molecular weight 137, when the minimum concentration in the finished explosive is 0.5 percent by mass;

      4. iv.(iv) Ortho-Mononitrotoluene (o-MNT), C₇ H₇ NO₂, molecular weight 137, when the minimum concentration in the finished explosive is 0.5 percent by mass; and

      5. v.(v) Any other substance in the concentration specified by the Director, after consultation with the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, that has been added to the table in Part 2 of the Technical Annex to the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives.

   4. 4.(4) Plastic explosive means an explosive material in flexible or elastic sheet form formulated with one or more high explosives which in their pure form has a vapor pressure less than 10−⁴ Pa at a temperature of 25 °C, is formulated with a binder material, and is as a mixture malleable or flexible at normal room temperature. High explosives, as defined in § 555.202(a), are explosive materials which can be caused to detonate by means of a blasting cap when unconfined.