SANCTIONS COMMITTEE AGREES ON EXPORT/IMPORT MECHANISM FOR IRAQ
Press Release
SC/6137
IK/184
SANCTIONS COMMITTEE AGREES ON EXPORT/IMPORT MECHANISM FOR IRAQ
19951206 Following is the text of a statement issued today by Tono Eitel (Germany), Chairman of the Security Council Committee established by resolution 661 (1990) which is monitoring the sanctions against Iraq, on behalf of Committee members:Today, a proposal for a mechanism to monitor any future sales or supplies to Iraq of items which could be used for the production or acquisition of banned weapons was forwarded to the Security Council by the Chairman of the Sanctions Committee, on behalf of that Committee, the Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Council is expected to consider this proposal shortly and adopt the resolution approving it. The mechanism is required under Security Council resolution 715 (1991), as part of the terms of the cease-fire arrangements arising from the Gulf War. As required by resolution 715 (1991), it has been developed by the Sanctions Committee established under resolution 661 (1990), the Special Commission and the Director General of IAEA.
Under the terms of section C of the cease-fire resolution -- Security Council resolution 687 (1991) -- Iraq is banned from having nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and long-range ballistic missiles. The cease-fire resolution also calls for the Special Commission and the IAEA to monitor Iraq's compliance with its obligation not to reacquire banned capabilities. Plans for the monitoring of Iraq's indigenous dual-use capabilities (i.e. those capabilities that could be used for legitimate purposes but which could also be used to acquire banned weapons) were adopted by the Security Council on 11 October 1991 through its resolution 715 (1991) and are currently being implemented. Resolution 715 (1991), in turn, envisaged supplementing the monitoring of indigenous activities and capabilities with monitoring of exports to Iraq and called for the development of a mechanism for such.
The mechanism relies on notifications both by Iraq and the supplier States of planned supplies of dual-use items to Iraq and on inspection of those items at the end-user site. Iraq will be required to make detailed declarations about its intention to import a dual-use item before import occurs. The Government of the supplier company will be required to notify the intention to supply such items prior to export and details confirming the
export, the mode of transport, the port of entry into Iraq and the end-user site. Upon arrival of the goods in Iraq, Iraq will have to make similar declarations.
The export/import mechanism is designed to be complementary to the other elements of ongoing monitoring and verification in order to create an effective system with minimal additional costs for legitimate trade and industry. Notifications from two sources will allow a degree of self- verification in the export/import monitoring mechanism and will give early indication of what newly imported items should be incorporated into the ongoing monitoring and verification regime. After arrival of the goods in Iraq, inspections under the ongoing monitoring and verification regime will allow verification of actual use at the end-user site. This will maintain the comprehensiveness of the regime by ensuring that all the items that should be subject to ongoing monitoring and verification indeed are.
Adoption of this mechanism is a prerequisite for the lifting or easing, under the terms of the cease-fire resolution, of the sanctions adopted under resolution 661 (1990). It is expected that the Security Council will adopt the proposed mechanism in a further Security Council resolution. The mechanism will only become operational in respect of particular items when the Security Council so decides. Until that time, the Sanctions Committee will continue to exercise its functions in respect of any requests by Iraq to import dual-use items of a humanitarian nature. Approval of the mechanism by the Council well in advance of such decisions is necessary in order to permit governments to take the measures to give effect to the mechanism under their national law as soon as the Council decides that the mechanism should become operational in respect of particular dual-use items.
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