By Maya Schenwar, t r u t h o u t
The Bush administration hopes to push through two license-free arms sales treaties before the end of this Senate session. Both would eliminate much of the oversight that governs international weapons trades. The treaties, one with the United Kingdom and one with Australia, exemplify a growing trend of weakening restrictions on arms exports, even as fears of weapons proliferation intensify worldwide.
Under current US licensing guidelines, a company wanting to trade arms with a foreign entity must undergo a rigorous evaluation and report details of the transaction, including specific materials and personnel, to the State Department. Government-authorized licensing specialists then screen each party against watch lists of illegal arms traffickers. Licensees also must sign statements verifying their identities, histories, proofs of purchase and trade partners.
The treaty with the U.K., waiting to be ratified by the Senate, would grant “security clearance” to an “approved community” of companies in the US and the U.K., according to John Rood, assistant secretary of the State Department’s international security and nonproliferation bureau, who announced the treaty at a press briefing in July. Approved companies would be permitted to transfer weapons freely between the two countries. The Australian treaty, announced in September, would operate similarly. Rood said he hoped that the U.K. treaty would be ratified by the end of the year. A State Department official said the administration aimed for December ratification of the Australian treaty, as well, according to the October issue of Arms Control News.