III. The export control regimes

Chapter:

19. Dual-use and arms trade controls

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2016

Author(s):

Sibylle Bauer, Mark Bromley

In 2015, participants in the four multilateral export control regimes—the Australia Group (AG), the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-use Goods and Technologies—updated their trade controls on goods and technologies that have uses in connection with chemical, biological, nuclear and conventional weapons, and discussed or agreed a revision of the items and activities subject to control.¹ These politically binding agreements operate by consensus and are implemented and enforced through national laws. For European Union (EU) member states, they are also legally binding through the EU Dual-use Regulation, although not all EU member states participate in all the regimes.² The regimes also have an important norm-setting function, particularly regarding the types of items made subject to some form of control at the national and, in the EU, also the regional level. An increasing number of non-members apply the regimes’ control lists. A few states outside the regimes, in particular those seeking membership, have committed themselves to follow regime principles and guidelines.