Latin America and the Caribbean
Source tier A. Conventions checked 2026-07-29.
Drug and firearms law in Paraguay: statutes on record and in force
Paraguay, in Latin America and the Caribbean, is party to all four of the instruments tracked here, the last of them since 2007. It appears on neither FATF list. Its confirmed instrument on record is the Ley No. 4.036 de Armas de Fuego, sus Piezas y Componentes, Municiones, Explosivos, Accesorios y Afines. The dates below are the depositary's; the instruments, where any are named, are the register's.
International framework
Paraguay is bound by all four instruments this dataset tracks, the earliest from 1990 and the most recent from 2007.
| Instrument | Adopted | Ratified or acceded | Depositary reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 Convention | 1988 | 23 Aug 1990 | Chapter VI-19 |
| UNTOC | 2000 | 22 Sep 2004 | Chapter XVIII-12 |
| UNCAC | 2003 | 1 Jun 2005 | Chapter XVIII-14 |
| Firearms Protocol | 2001 | 27 Sep 2007 | Chapter XVIII-12-c |
What each instrument obliges a party to do is set out once, per instrument, in the conventions reference. The dates above are what is specific to Paraguay: they are the points from which each obligation began to bind, taken from the depositary's own status tables.
National legislation
Below are the confirmed instruments, given in their enacted titles. Where a register supplies a citation number it is carried through unchanged.
Ley No. 4.036 de Armas de Fuego, sus Piezas y Componentes, Municiones, Explosivos, Accesorios y Afines (No. 4.036) — A principal firearms control instrument, carrying the Firearms Protocol's manufacturing, marking and transfer controls into domestic law. Confirmed against the Paraguayan Digesto Legislativo, checked 2026-07-30.
Enforcement authorities
One body is named in the record for Paraguay, each confirmed on Paraguay's own government domain. Naming the body matters because the treaty obligations above bind the state, while the powers to act on them sit with particular institutions under national law.
| Body | Function | Confirmed on |
|---|---|---|
| Policía Nacional | criminal investigation | policianacional.gov.py |
Ratification sequence
A count of four tells you less than the sequence that produced it. Paraguay came to these instruments over 17 years, beginning with the 1988 Convention in 1990 and ending with the Firearms Protocol in 2007. Measured against each instrument's own adoption, the shortest gap was the 1988 Convention at 2 years, the longest the Firearms Protocol at 6.
Paraguay became a party to the 1988 Convention in 1990, 2 years after it was adopted — faster than the median lag of 5 years across this dataset.
A complete treaty position assembled over decades is not the same as one assembled at once. For the 14 years between 1990 and 2004, Paraguay was bound by the 1988 Convention but not yet by the UNTOC, the UNCAC or the Firearms Protocol. An obligation that arrives late does not reach conduct that took place before it, which is why the sequence matters to a prosecutor and not only to a chronology.
On coverage, Paraguay is one of 81 jurisdiction s here party to 4 of the four, against 81 party to all four. The Latin America and the Caribbean cohort runs to 33 records, 3 of them currently listed for increased monitoring.
Financial-crime monitoring
As of the FATF plenary statements of 2026-06-19, Paraguay is recorded as Not listed . A jurisdiction can enter or leave either list at any plenary, so this line is dated rather than settled. How the plenary reaches these decisions is covered on the FATF grey list tracker.
Questions about drug and firearms law in Paraguay
Which drug-control conventions has Paraguay ratified?
All four: the 1988 Convention on 23 Aug 1990, the UNTOC on 22 Sep 2004, the UNCAC on 1 Jun 2005, the Firearms Protocol on 27 Sep 2007.
Is Paraguay on the FATF grey list?
No. Paraguay appears on neither the increased-monitoring list nor the call-for-action list in the FATF statements of 19 June 2026.
What national drug legislation is on record for Paraguay?
Ley No. 4.036 de Armas de Fuego, sus Piezas y Componentes, Municiones, Explosivos, Accesorios y Afines (No. 4.036), confirmed against the Paraguayan Digesto Legislativo.
Which register confirms the legislation on this page?
Each instrument names its own. For Paraguay that is the Paraguayan Digesto Legislativo. The entry links straight to the document, so the wording can be checked rather than taken on trust.
What is source tier A, and why is this record in it?
Tier A means a national instrument has been confirmed against an official register — for Paraguay, 1 of them. The treaty dates and the listing status are separately sourced, so all three layers of this record carry a citation.
Why does the ratification date matter?
The date is the point from which the obligations bind. Paraguay's earliest of these commitments dates from 1990, its most recent from 2007; the gap between them is a rough measure of how long the framework took to assemble.
Sources
- Ratification dates: United Nations Treaty Collection, depositary status tables (chapters VI-19, XVIII-12, XVIII-14, XVIII-12-c). Checked 2026-07-29.
- Listing status: FATF, Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring and High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, 2026-06-19.
- Ley No. 4.036 de Armas de Fuego, sus Piezas y Componentes, Municiones, Explosivos, Accesorios y Afines: the Paraguayan Digesto Legislativo, checked 2026-07-30.