DDTC Aligns ITAR With Updated UN Controls for African, Carribean Nations
The State Department is revising the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to align with recent U.N. Security Council decisions involving the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sudan. The agency’s final rule, effective July 7, also updates the list of NATO members and major non-NATO allies and makes other corrections and clarifications to the ITAR.
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One change updates export controls related to the Democratic Republic of Congo after the U.N. “reaffirmed” there’s no longer a requirement to pre-notify the DRC Sanctions Committee of shipments of arms or the provisions of military-related services or training, to or involving the DRC government. The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said it’s amending the ITAR to “remove this pre-notification requirement” and making other clarifying changes.
The U.N. council also renewed and revised the arms embargo on Haiti to “further support the Haitian Government’s efforts to counter increasing gang violence and criminality that threaten regional peace and stability.” DDTC said it’s amending the ITAR to “implement recent changes to the UN arms embargo on Haiti related to exports, and the Department is choosing to maintain the inclusion of imports in ITAR § 126.1(j) for policy reasons.” DDTC is also restructuring language in the ITAR “to be consistent with the format for other entries in that section.”
DDTC is also reviewing the ITAR to align with a new U.N. defense services exclusion for Libya for services that have the “sole purpose of promoting reunification of Libyan military and security institutions, as well as temporary exports of defense articles in support of those activities.” Another exclusion was added for temporary exports to Libya of military aircraft and naval vessels delivering items that aren’t subject to a U.N. arms embargo, “along with any defense articles that remain aboard the vessel or aircraft while in Libya.” The U.N. resolution also includes an exception for protective clothing for personal use by U.N., media, humanitarian, and others; small arms, light weapons, and related materiel to certain actors when pre-notified to the U.N. Security Council; non-lethal military equipment intended for humanitarian or protective use; and more.
The Security Council also adopted resolutions that apply a “comprehensive arms embargo” on Somalia with certain exceptions for deliveries to the government, the Somali National Army, the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency, the Somali National Police Force, and the Somali Custodial Corps, among other exceptions. The U.N. also formally lifted a prior nationwide arms embargo on Somalia that had been in place since 1992. “The Department is amending ITAR § 126.1(m) to implement these changes,” DDTC said.
The agency also revised the ITAR to reflect the U.N. lifting an arms embargo for the Central African Republic but keeping it in place for “armed groups and associated individuals” operating within the country; renewing the embargo on Sudan; and renewing the arms embargo on South Sudan.
DDTC said the South Sudan embargo doesn't apply to defense article and defense service exports to U.N. personnel and certain U.N.-authorized missions; certain non-lethal military equipment and related technical assistance for humanitarian or protective use; protective clothing for the personal use of U.N. personnel, media members, and humanitarian and development workers; arms and related material temporarily exported by a state to “protect or evacuate its people”; arms and related material, including technical assistance, to or in support of the African Union Regional Task Force with the aim of countering the Lord’s Resistance Army; arms and related material, including technical assistance, to “support peace agreement implementation”; and “other arms and technical assistance pre-approved by the UNSC South Sudan Sanctions Committee.”
The rule also makes other corrections and clarifications to the ITAR in this rule, including by adding Finland and Sweden to the list of NATO members and revising the reference to the Czech Republic to Czechia; adding Colombia, Kenya and Qatar to, and removing Afghanistan from, the list of major non-NATO allies; removing duplicative references to the Russian Federation, and “revising ITAR § 126.1(a) to improve its readability by restructuring it to set out its existing exceptions as discreet subparagraphs; and updating the table associated with ITAR § 126.1(d)(2).”