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OSCE Criteria on Conventional Arms Transfers
- The participating States reaffirm their commitment to
act, in the security field, in accordance with the Charter
of the United Nations and the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter
of Paris and other relevant CSCE documents.
- They recall that in Prague on 30 January 1992 they agreed
that effective national control of weapons and equipment
transfer is acquiring the greatest importance and decided
to include the question of the establishment of a responsible
approach to arms transfers as a matter of priority in the
work programme of the post Helsinki arms control process.
They also recall their declaration in the Helsinki Document
of 10 July 1992 that they would intensify their co operation
in the field of effective export controls applicable, inter
alia, to conventional weapons.
Section I
- The participating States reaffirm:
- their undertaking, in accordance with the Charter
of the United Nations, to promote the establishment
of international peace and security with the least diversion
for armaments of human and economic resources and their
view that the reduction of world military expenditures
could have a significant positive impact for the social
and economic development of all peoples;
- the need to ensure that arms transferred are not used
in violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter
of the United Nations;
- their adherence to the principles of transparency
and restraint in the transfer of conventional weapons
and related technology, and their willingness to promote
them in the security dialogue of the Forum for Security
Cooperation;
- their strong belief that excessive and destabilizing
arms build ups pose a threat to national, regional and
international peace and security;
- the need for effective national mechanisms for controlling
the transfer of conventional arms and related technology
and for transfers to take place within those mechanisms;
- their support for and commitment to provide data and
information as required by the United Nations resolution
establishing the Register of Conventional Arms in order
to ensure its effective implementation.
Section II
- In order to further their aim of a new co operative and
common approach to security, each participating State will
promote and, by means of an effective national control mechanism,
exercise due restraint in the transfer of conventional arms
and related technology. To give this effect:
- each participating State will, in considering proposed
transfers, take into account:
- the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
in the recipient country;
- the internal and regional situation in and around
the recipient country, in the light of existing
tensions or armed conflicts;
- the record of compliance of the recipient country
with regard to international commitments, in particular
on the non use of force, and in the field of non
proliferation, or in other areas of arms control
and disarmament;
- the nature and cost of the arms to be transferred
in relation to the circumstances of the recipient
country, including its legitimate security and defence
needs and the objective of the least diversion for
armaments of human and economic resources;
- the requirements of the recipient country to enable
it to exercise its right to individual or collective
self defence in accordance with Article 51 of the
Charter of the United Nations;
- whether the transfers would contribute to an appropriate
and proportionate response by the recipient country
to the military and security threats confronting
it;
- the legitimate domestic security needs of the
recipient country;
- the requirements of the recipient country to enable
it to participate in peacekeeping or other measures
in accordance with decisions of the United Nations
or the Conference on Security and Co operation in
Europe.
- Each participating State will avoid transfers which
would be likely to:
- be used for the violation or suppression of human
rights and fundamental freedoms;
- threaten the national security of other States
and of territories whose external relations are
the internationally acknowledged responsibility
of another State;
- contravene its international commitments, in particular
in relation to sanctions adopted by the Security
Council of the United Nations, or to decisions taken
by the CSCE Council, or agreements on non proliferation,
or other arms control and disarmament agreements;
- prolong or aggravate an existing armed conflict,
taking into account the legitimate requirement for
self defence;
- endanger peace, introduce destabilizing military
capabilities into a region, or otherwise contribute
to regional instability;
- be diverted within the recipient country or re
exported for purposes contrary to the aims of this
document;
- be used for the purpose of repression;
- support or encourage terrorism;
- be used other than for the legitimate defence
and security needs of the recipient country.
Section III
- Further, each participating State will:
- reflect, as necessary, the principles in Section II
in its national policy documents governing the transfer
of conventional arms and related technology;
- consider mutual assistance in the establishment of
effective national mechanisms for
- controlling the transfer of conventional arms and
related technology;
- exchange information, in the context of security co
operation within the Forum for Security Co operation,
about national legislation and practices in the field
of transfers of conventional arms and related technology
and on mechanisms to control these transfers.
Note: Decision by the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation,
November 1993
Source: FSC Journal, No. 49, 24 November 1993
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