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Brief Submission to the Biennial Meeting of States (BMS)
on Small Arms and Light Weapons
New York 7-11 July 2003
Why Licensed Production of SALW Needs Tighter Control
Exporting the technology to produce SALW through licensed
production while trying to control the proliferation of SALW
is like shooting ourselves in the foot and handing the gun
to our enemy.
Contracts involving the use of licensed production overseas
(LPO) and technology transfers are becoming more commonplace
in the highly competitive global arms market. The consequences
of this phenomenon are serious and widespread. Once these
transfers have taken place, it is very difficult to monitor
the production and to verify whether the recipient states
are keeping within the boundaries of the original contracts,
which often include limits to the quantity production and
re-export clauses.
Licensed production contracts have established weapons production
capabilities in at least 21 developing countries, with around
46 countries receiving military technology since the 1960's.
Heckler and Koch, for example, license small arms production
in 14 countries including Burma, Iran, Mexico, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia and Turkey.
At present, this proliferation avenue is explicitly controlled
by only a handful of countries through licence. In the United
Kingdom, for example, despite the recent Export Control Act
2002, LPO has largely been ignored as an issue. This is a
grave mistake that may have lasting and irreversible consequences.
- LPO means that governments have no overall context
for the individual transfers of technologies. The full significance
of a component or a particular technology may not be obvious
to the official engaged in licensing the transfer. This
makes it easier for recipients to disguise the real intention
for their import of the technology.
- LPO also makes it more difficult to control the end
use of the technology, both within the location and
in re-export.
- The enforcement of the LPO conditions (such as
restrictions on the quantity of production, application
and reuse of technology) is left to exporters, who have
fewer resources and sanctions than the government to enforce
their contracts, and who do not have identical objectives.
Paul Ingram
Senior Analyst, BASIC
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