Addressing Unauthorized Re-export or Re-transfer of Arms and Ammunition
Addressing Unauthorized Re-export or Re-transfer of Arms and Ammunition

Author(s): Mark Bromley, Lawrence Dermody
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, International relations/trade, Security and defense
Published by: The South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC)
Keywords: Arms; Exports; Southeast Europe
Summary/Abstract: When arms or ammunition are-exported, the exporting country often imposes restric- tions on their subsequent re-export (i.e. onward export to another destination country) or re-transfer (i.e. onward transfer to another end-user or end-use in the same country).1 These re-export or re-transfer controls are commitments — usually inserted into the end-user certificate (EUC), the end-user statement or the commercial contract associated with an export — that bind the end-user either to not re-export or re-transfer the arms or to only do so under certain circumstances. In the case of re-export controls, restrictions can consist of a simple ban on subsequent exports to another destination country or a commitment to only export the arms to certain destination countries or under certain conditions. In the case of re-transfer controls, restrictions can consist of a commitment that the imported arms will remain with a particular branch or unit of the armed forces or security services or a commitment that the imported arms will not be deployed to a certain territory or location or used in a certain way. The imposition of such controls is recommended in the best practices and guidelines of the Europe- an Union (EU), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations and, in particular, the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-use Goods and Technologies.

• Details
• Contents