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International Response: Australia Group Adds New Pathogens to Control List By Mike Nartker The Australia Group — an informal network of countries that coordinate export controls on dual-use items that could be used to create biological or chemical weapons — agreed at its annual meeting in Paris to add 14 pathogens to the group’s biological control list, the ministry said in a press release. The pathogens include 12 types of viruses, such as encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever, as well as two types of bacteria, according to the U.S. State Department. The pathogens were selected because they are sufficiently dangerous to humans to pose the risk of being used as biological weapons, a State Department official told Global Security Newswire yesterday. At last week’s meeting, the group also agreed to several additional nonproliferation measures. Group members endorsed a cooperative program to engage countries in the Asian-Pacific region on biological and chemical export-control issues, according to the Australian Foreign Ministry. The plan could also include group members helping Asian-Pacific countries to develop or strengthen national biological and chemical export control laws, the State Department official said. The official denied that the Asian-Pacific region posed a greater risk for biological and chemical proliferation, saying that Australia’s position as chair of the group was a factor in the region being chosen as the target of the first action plan. The United States hopes similar plans for other regions will also be developed, the official said. Australia Group members agreed to new procedures to improve transparency and information sharing, the ministry said in its release. These new procedures include mandatory information-sharing among members on the implementation of group-related export controls, the State Department official said. In addition, group members approved a new guide to help national compliance and enforcement officers to detect and prevent illegal transfers of controlled items. “I welcome the continued high priority placed by members of the Australia Group on preventing the spread of CBW in the fight against terrorism and their commitment to strengthening export-control measures,” Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement. The United States believes, however, that more work remains to be done through the group to address chemical weapon-related issues, according to the State Department official. The group was unable to reach a consensus at this year’s meeting on adding additional chemical precursors to the group’s control list, the official said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has modified the U.S. Export Administration Regulations to incorporate decisions made by the Australia Group at its annual meeting last year, according to a final rule published yesterday in the Federal Register (see GSN, June 21, 2002). Under the final rule, which took effect yesterday, eight new toxins have been added to the U.S. Commerce Control List. The bureau has also lowered volume limits for controlled fermenters from 100 liters to 20 liters. In addition, the bureau has also modified licensing policy provisions in the Export Administration Regulations to make them more consistent with guidelines the Australia Group adopted last year. Now, the bureau will consider several new factors before an export license will be granted, such as the reliability of the parties involved in the transfer, relevant information about proliferation or terrorism activities, the risk of diversion of the transferred items and the applicability of other export control or nonproliferation agreements.
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