What it seems to be is this:
Governments sign up to CIP (which, you are correct, is primarily interested in safety).
The Proof Houses were set up by Act of Parliament to govern the safety of small arms.
--- snip --
Permit me a dissention.
The primary goal of national proof laws, and national proof houses, is to establish trade barriers that protect local industry.
The secondary goal of proof laws/houses is to provide income to the agency that establishes/controls the proof houses.
The tertiary goal of proof laws/houses is prevent dangerously shoddy products from reaching the market.
The primary goal of C.I.P., as an organization, was and is the removal of the Euro zone trade barriers that were imposed by the creation of proof laws/houses. The establishment of a common and enforceable set of commercial firearm and commercial ammunition manufacturing standards is purely the mechanism by which C.I.P. eliminates any technical reason for trade barriers between C.I.P. signatories.
