Multilateral Export Control
In the nuclear field there is on the one hand the Zangger Committee (ZC), which focuses on a joint interpretation of the provisions on material and pieces of equipment in terms of Article III of the NPT, and on the other hand there is the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which developed export guidelines starting in 1974. With the admission of Belarus, these two groups now have 38 and 46 members respectively. ZC and NSG operate control lists of sensitive nuclear goods and pieces of equipment.
The Australia Group (AG) fulfils a similar role in the field of chemical and biological weapons. The main function of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR, 34 members) is to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles (i.e. missiles that are guided during the first flight phase and that are subject to the laws of gravitation in the final flight phase) in particular with a view to ballistic missiles acting as unmanned carriers for weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The main goal of the Vienna-based Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) is peacekeeping through increased transparency and through prevention of destabilising accumulations of conventional weapons and dual-use goods and technologies by means of voluntary exchange of information.
The primary goal of all five export control regimes is to prevent through coordination of national export controls the deviation of sensitive technology and know-know into the hands of states that might use them for military purposes (non-proliferation). The main instruments of these regimesare lists with relevant goods and substances as well as guidelines regarding export of such goods and substances into non-member states. Austria participates in all five export control regimes and mainly implements its commitments through the Foreign Trade Act.
National Export Controls on Conventional Arms and Weapons
According to Austrian law there is a differentiation between war material, as stipulated in the Austrian War Material Act (Federal Law Gazette I 540/1977 as amended by Federal Law Gazette I 50/2005), and exhaustively listed in the relevant regulation, and equipment of the Common Military List not listed as war material, governed by the 2005 Foreign Trade Act (Federal Law Gazette I 50/2005).
The Ministry of the Interior (for war material) and the Ministry for Economics and Labour (for all other equipment of the Common Military List) are the respective national licensing authorities. The Ministry for European and International Affairs assesses each export licence application on a case-by-case basis against the relevant legal provisions and the Council Common Position (2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008) of the European Union (EU) defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment.
More detailed information and concrete export data can be found by following the relevant link of the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Arms Trade Treaty
The negative consequences of irresponsible trade in arms on stability, security and human rights, as well as on sustainable economic and development policies remain undisputed. Austria and all her EU-partners have thus always strongly supported the concerted efforts of the international community of working towards a legally binding and universal Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). UN General Assembly Resolution 64/48 of December 2009 established a concrete time frame for the elaboration of an Arms Trade Treaty by deciding to convene a state conference in July 2012.
In the EU and in UN alike, Austria advocates the due consideration of human rights and of international humanitarian law as parameters of an ATT as well as the recognition of the work done by civil society. Austria co-sponsored a symposium in Boston (USA) in September 2010, which discussed certain elements of an ATT in detail, also in the presence of civil society representatives. At the same time, Austria was one of the chairpersons of this symposium and thereby underlined its continuous engagement in the elaboration of an ATT.
With support provided by the EU, UNIDIR organised seminars and workshops in different parts of the world in order to create solid supraregional support for an ATT. By way of example the “Wider Europe” regional conference took place in Vienna in February 2010 as well as the concluding conference of the first UNIDIR seminar series. Austria also provided support to an NGO-conference on an ATT organised in parallel to the above-mentioned regional conference.
