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Export Controls
Governments regulate the transfer of weapons and weapons-related
technology for a number of reasons. Before 9/11, for example,
the trend in the United States was towards greater liberalisation
of export controls, mainly for commercial reasons, although
the impact of transfers on human rights and regional security
was also a prominent consideration. Across the EU, revelations
regarding the role of European countries in supplying arms
and technology to Iraq in the 1980s, coupled with the fact
that many of the member states' export control regimes were
not as developed as that of the US, complicated this picture.
In 1998, the EU agreed a Code of Conduct on Arms Exports and
has since begun to bring a wider range of activities under
licensing control (e.g. arms brokering), while at the same
time seeking to 'rationalize' the licensing system, for example
through the use of open or general licenses. The underlying
philosophy appears to be more careful targeting of resources,
or "higher fences around fewer transfers".
In the post-9/11 environment, two competing trends have emerged,
especially in the United States. On the one hand, especially
with regard to conventional arms exports, security concerns
are being used to justify the liberalisation of controls and
the arming of regimes that support the US-led global war on
terrorism, including to countries where pre-9/11 transfers
would have been refused. At the same time, concerns in the
United States about the threat posed by transfers of dual-use
items that can be used to develop nuclear, biological and
chemical (NBC) weapons have gained ground over the argument
that NBC controls are a hindrance to legitimate trade. In
the EU, the pressures to realign export control policy since
9/11 in light of a new security environment have not been
as intense, in part because the respective governments would
seem to be less convinced of this as an appropriate policy
response, and in part because the commitment to a criteria-based
system of export control appears to have deeper roots than
in the United States.
It is more important than ever that the EU and the United
States continue to work together to improve co-operation and
to move towards common standards of export control. The creation
of a universal international regime, such as that envisaged
by the 'Arms Trade Treaty', will be difficult to achieve but
remains a goal that BASIC supports.
Publications
From the
Frying Pan into the Fire: US Arms Sales and Military Assistance
to the Persian Gulf and Middle East, by David Isenberg,
BASIC Paper No. 55, 20 September 2007. Also available as a
pdf file at: http://www.basicint.org/pubs/Papers/BP55.pdf.
What Happens When A
White Elephant Meets a Paper Tiger? The Prospective Sale of
Eurofighter Typhoon Aircraft to Saudi Arabia and the EU Code
of Conduct on Arms Exports, BASIC Paper 46, 23 December
2005.
Licensed Production Overseas:
Time for a New Control Initiative? Saferworld and
BASIC Discussion Paper from roundtable meeting on EU and US
Cooperation on arms export controls in a post 9/11 world,
January 2003. (Posted Spring 2003.)
Man Portable Air Defense
Systems (MANPADS) Saferworld and BASIC Discussion
Paper from roundtable meeting on EU and US Cooperation on
arms export controls in a post 9/11 world, January 2003. (Posted
Spring 2003.)
US and EU Cooperation
on arms export controls in a post 9/11 world, Summary
of the Roundtable Discussion held in Washington, D.C. on 23
January 2003.
EU
and US co-operation on arms export controls in a post 9/11
world, (PDF). Joint BASIC and Saferworld report on the expert roundtable
held 23 January 2003 in Washington, DC. September 2003. Also
see the Web summary of the
roundtable discussion.
Draft
Secondary Legislation Consultation, (PDF), BASIC's
response to the DTI's Consultation Document on the secondary
legislation for the Export Control Act 2002. 30 April 2003
Campaigners Attack "Meddling"
with Arms Laws Press release from the UK Working Group
on Arms, 22 July 2002
Loophole in New
Law Could Allow British Dealers to Arm Terrorist Groups
Press release from UK Working Group on Arms, 16 October 2001.
Arms Bill Must
Not Stall Press release from UK Working Group on Arms,
29 March 2001.
Export Controls in the Framework
Agreement Countries
BASIC Research Reports 2001.1, July 2001. In July
2000, Europe's six largest arms producers - France, Germany,
Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom signed a Framework
Agreement to facilitate the restructuring and operation of
the European defense industry. Four out of the six countries
have now ratified the Framework Agreement. This paper outlines
the export control regulations in the six countries in order
to better understand the implications of this harmonization.
European
Accord Threatens to Lower Export Controls, BASIC Paper
#33, August 2000. By Kathleen Miller and Theresa Hitchens
European Export Regulations
Monitoring developments in European export laws and regulations,
and their impact on the control of arms transfers.
NATO and Arms Control: A Blueprint for
Action Research Report 2000.3, 3 October 2000.
This paper suggests some possible areas for progress within
NATO regarding nuclear forces, heavy conventional weapons,
and small arms.
Diplomacy
and Arms: West Sends Mixed Messages to Aegean Adversaries
BASIC Paper #29, August 1998
Arming
Central and Eastern Europe BASIC Paper # 12, September
1995. By Susannah Dyer and Tasos Kokkinides
Framework
Convention on International Arms Transfers See the
proposed Convention
that would hold countries to their obligations under existing
international law and help prevent the transfer of weapons
to dangerous international actors. View the Declaration on Responsible
Arms Transfers that supports the Framework Convention
and sign the Declaration now!
Codes of Conduct
Includes information on the European Union Code of Conduct
and efforts to promote the Code of Conduct in the United States.
Multilateral Arms
Control Regimes Information on the Conventional Forces
in Europe Treaty, Missile Technology Control Regime, UN Register
of Conventional Arms, and the Wassenaar Arrangement.
Response to the Kingdom Department of
Trade and Industry White Paper on Strategic Export Controls,
September 1998.
Chronicling an Absence of Restraint: The
1995 UN Arms Register, BASIC Paper # 13, 3 November 1995.
This paper utilizes the 1995 UN
Arms Register, SIPRI Yearbook
1995, and Monterey Institute
of International Studies' evaluation of the UN Arms Register
to analyze the discrepancies between importer and exporter
submissions to the UN Arms Register and suggests ways to strengthen
the register. (Available only in .pdf format).
Additional Information
Challenging Conventional Wisdom: Debunking
the Myths and Exposing Risks of Arms Export Reform,
(June 2003, 223 pages). Edited by Tamar Gabelnick, former
director of the Arms Sales Monitoring Project at the Federation
of American Scientists, and Rachel Stohl, senior analyst at
the Center for Defense Information. See the
summary on CDI's page for more information.
"General and
Complete Disarmament: Measures to Curb the Illicit Transfer
and Use of Conventional Arms," Report of the Secretary-General.
UNGA Document A/52/229, 28 July 1997
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