STRATEGIC EXPORT CONTROLS
By
Sobia Saeed Paracha (Research Fellow)
Military related export controls have been employed by governments through centuries to delay the process of allowing additions to an adversary’s arsenal and deny them the vital war fighting technological advancement. The emergence of dual-use nuclear technologies and their prospective military applications, first manifested by the clandestine Indian atomic tests in 1974, called for the control of sensitive materials and technologies and introduced the strategic export controls as they are known to us today. As a response to the “Smiling Buddha”, the ‘peaceful’ Indian nuclear explosion, international nuclear technology providers created the London Suppliers Group, the LSG. Transformed into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the LSG aimed to control and regulate the supplies of nuclear technology to countries that seek nuclear energy, sign the NPT and forego the option of acquiring nuclear weapons.
As arms controls are employed to prevent vertical proliferation i.e. arms race, export controls are employed as a tool to avert horizontal proliferation. According to the Trade, Export and Finance Organization, “Export Control means the establishment of procedures for the governmental control of exports for strategic purposes”.[1] The term strategic export controls implies, measures adopted by the governments/administrators to check the spread of sensitive technologies, information and materials in the undesired hands, guided by a national/international security policy and economic interests.
Though export controls are not sole means of checking proliferation they are significant in balancing good commerce with, delaying the process of proliferation and raising the costs of acquisition of nuclear weapons for undesired parties. Export Control Laws ensure that nuclear trade for peaceful purposes does not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
It is normally assumed that entities developing clandestine nuclear weapons program will try to acquire complete weapons systems, yet states that have developed nuclear weapons covertly have done it mostly with the help of dual use technologies and materials, acquiring them in bits and pieces. The real challenge for an export controls policy maker is to develop a policy that best balances between promotion of legitimate trade and controlling the undesired spread of sensitive technologies and materials. Globalization, rapid technological advancement and complicated developments in the international political arena e.g. end of cold war and 9/11 have lead to limiting the effectiveness of export control in preventing proliferation. This necesitates continuous revising and development of export controls policies and procedures.
Pakistan, guided by its national security interests achieved complete nuclear fuel cycle capabilities, can play an important role in the international nuclear energy and technology markets. The unilateral export controls regime of Pakistan assists it to suitably analyze threats related to proliferation, vulnerabilities in the system and adopt counter measures. Its geo-strategic location, in addition to being a nuclear technology possessor state, makes Pakistan a significant party both at the nuclear supply and the demand side of the equation.
To help achieve the goals of non-proliferation and international security it is imperative to reduce the legality-reality divide and make a comprehensive policy that addresses the interests of all stakeholders in the nuclear arena. This requires enhanced cooperation and understanding amongst all parties with reference to the export controls requirements and individual national interests, without ignoring the regional political dynamics of South Asia.
---------------------[1]Definition by Trade, Export and Finance Organization, USA (available at: http://tefo.com/trade-finance-glossary/e.html, (accessed on April 1st, 2010).