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Federal Foreign Office on India joining the Australia Group
A Federal Foreign Office Spokesperson issued the following statement today (19 December):
We welcome accession by India, on 19 January 2018, to the Australia Group (AG), the international export control regime for dual-use goods and technologies that can be misused for the production of biological or chemical weapons. India is prepared to apply, as part of its export control regime, the stringent guidelines and control lists of the AG. As an AG member, India will significantly strengthen efforts to promote international security and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The German Government actively supports the admission of India to all four international export control regimes. Building on India’s membership in the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), the German Government is campaigning for admission of India to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), as well.
Background information:
Like other export control regimes, the Australia Group relies on the political goodwill of participating states, not on binding international law. The Australia Group includes all EU member states, as well as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the USA, as well as the new member India (giving a total of 42 states plus the EU Commission); Kazakhstan and Serbia have applied for membership.
The participating states have agreed to make the export of sensitive items and technology contained in the Australia Group’s lists subject to national licences. All other AG partners are informed of export applications that have been denied by one of their number, and they are obliged not to supply similar goods to the same recipient until they have consulted the state that denied the original application (no undercut). The principles of the Australia Group have been laid down in its guidelines, which are publicly available. EU member states are legally bound to obtain export licenses for the above-mentioned items, in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009.