Germany bids to crack down on arms sales to conflict zones

Date: 18/02/1999

By Simon Taylor

EUROPEAN governments have welcomed a German initiative to close a loophole in the EU's arms export rules, boosting the chances of a deal to stop companies flouting international bans on weapons sales to war zones.

Tighter rules could prevent a repetition of cases such as that involving Sandline International, the British firm which defied a United Nations ban on arms sales by arranging for Bulgarian guns and rifles to be shipped to rebels fighting government forces in Sierra Leone.

The German proposals would clamp down on arms brokerage, which allows dealers to get round the usual restrictions on arms exports by buying weapons in countries outside the EU, often in eastern Europe, and selling them on to conflict zones. Since the weapons do not actually enter Union territory, companies do not have to apply for export licences - the standard method for policing arms sales.

Bonn argues that while some countries already have effective national controls on arms brokering, a Union-wide approach is needed to ensure that restrictions have the desired result. Germany and Sweden already require licences for all arms transfers.

Under Bonn's proposals, companies would have to apply for licences to buy arms outside the EU before they could be sold on to non-Union customers. At present, licences are not required unless the arms enter EU territory.

The plan also suggests that one way of keeping track of transactions would be to require companies to register before they make any such deals. Union governments could then exchange these lists as a way of monitoring the activities of these firms, which often operate in several member states.

This last aspect of the German proposal has been welcomed by groups working to stop the warring factions in conflicts zones being supplied with illegal weapons.

"This is a very positive idea indeed and something we have been pushing for," said Andrew McLean of London-based group Saferworld, who argues that countries should set up national registers of arms brokers which could be exchanged. "If companies break the rules, then they could be struck off the register. It is a way of bringing these people out of the shadows."

Following a positive response to the initiative at an official-level meeting in January, the German presidency now plans to flesh out its ideas in time for the group's next get-together in March.

A spokesman for the British government, which does not require broking firms to register, said London was "sympathetic to stricter rules" but did not want to create an unenforceable system. The UK is the world's second-largest arms exporter behind the US.

The UK's department of trade and industry produced a consultation document last year on measures to control brokered deals to countries banned from buying arms.

But Saferworld points out that this would still allow arms sales to conflict zones such as Burundi, Congo and Indonesia. It claims that UK-based brokers were involved in deals to ship weapons from Israel and Albania to Rwanda during the genocide despite a UN embargo on arms sales.