LAW No 106 of 26 March 1999.

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic have approved;

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

PROMULGATES

the following law:

Art. 1

1. The President of the Republic is hereby authorised to ratify the Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction, signed in Ottawa on 3 December 1997, hereinafter referred to as "the Convention".

Art. 2

1. The Convention is fully and entirely implemented as from its effective date in accordance with Art. 17 thereof.

Art. 3

1. In Article 1, paragraph 1, of Law No. 374 of 29 October 1997, after the words: "mine clearance operations", the following will be inserted: "and development of new mine for their destruction under article 5 of Law No. 374 of 29 October 1997, under the control of responsible commands, who may transfer them elsewhere when necessary for their custody.

Art. 7

1. The Ministry of Defence is designated as the national authority responsible for submitting, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the initial and periodic reports specified in article 7 of the Convention to the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization (UNO) and for receiving and formulating the requests and taking the measures envisaged in article 8 of the Convention.

Art. 8

1. Private and public owners of a building or an area subject to verification inspections under article 8 of the Convention will be obliged to permit access to the designated areas by the inspection team, to facilitate the conduct of the inspection and to provide relevant information as specified by international treaties and internal regulations.

Art. 9

1. The provisions of Law No 374 of 29 October 1997 that have not been amended by this Law, and in particular articles 1, 2 and 5, will remain in force.

Art. 10

1. This law will enter into force on the day after its publication on the Official Gazette.

This law, sealed by the State Seal, will be included in the official body of laws of the Italian Republic. All concerned will be obliged to observe and enforce it as a State law.

Rome, 26 March 1999