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Belarus: Export Control Developments

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12/13/2002: NOVAYA HUTA CHECKPOINT OPENS AT BELARUS-UKRAINE BORDER

On 13 December 2002, the Belarus State Customs Committee reopened the newly renovated Novaya Huta customs checkpoint on the Belarus-Ukraine border. The checkpoint has been remodeled and equipped with modern customs equipment including video observation and communication systems. This will considerably improve service quality and increase traffic capacity to 1,640 vehicles every 24 hours.

["Novaya Guta Checkpoint Opens at Belarus-Ukraine Border," 13 December 2002, Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web Site, http://www.mfa.gov.by/eng/mfa_news.php?v=1&nt=
news_eng&news_id=957.]  {Entered 3/7/2003 AI}

11/12/2002: EC and UNDP PROVIDE TRAINING AND MOBILE BORDER POSTS TO BELARUS

On 14 November 2002, the Gomel border control unit in Belarus received special vehicles and equipment under an assistance program implemented by the European Commission and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).  Of the program's budget of €990,000 (about $1 million as of 12 November 2002), 45% funded seminars for Belarusian border guards on detecting forged documents and 55% was spent on equipment, including two mobile border posts for use on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.[1,2]

Sources:

[1] "Mobile border posts to start functioning on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border," Belta News, 12 November 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.

[2]  BelaPAN, 14 November 2002; in "Border guards get special equipment under EU-sponsored TACIS project," FBIS Document CEP20021114000457.] {Entered 2/28/03 AI}

10/2002:  BELARUS PUBLISHES REPORT ON EXPORT CONTROL
In October 2002, the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a report on the country's export control system in an effort to alleviate international concerns that Belarus was failing to control exports of arms and sensitive dual-use items. Belarus came under scrutiny in 2002 for allegedly supplying arms to countries under UN arms embargoes, including Iraq.[1,2]

Belarus denied the allegations and stated that it "does not sell weapons to nations to which arms sales are banned by resolutions of the UN Security Council."[3] The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently published a report on export control and exports of weapons and military hardware in 2001-2002. The report describes the country's export control legislation, export control licensing procedures, and the role of various government agencies. According to the report, Belarus complies with international export control norms and has an effective export control system. The report points to a number of license denials and highlights Belarus' submission of information to the UN registry as evidence of an export control system that is working. It does not, however, discuss alleged violations of export control regulations by Belarusian enterprises, or illicit transfers, nor does it elaborate on implementation of enforcement procedures.[4]
Sources:

[1] Mark Lenzi, "Europe's Armory for Terrorism," The Washington Post, 3 January 2002; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://www.lexis-nexis.com.

[2] Natalya Khmelik, "Voyennyye podstavki," Sovershenno sekretno, 5 August 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.

[3] "The Embassy of Belarus Responds," The Washington Post, 22 January 2002; Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://www.lexis-nexis.com.

[4] Natsionalnyy otchet Respubliki Belarus o politike eksportnogo kontrolya, eksporta vooruzheniy i voyennoy tekhniki v 2001/2002 godu, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Belarus. {Entered 3/6/2003 KB}
 

9/22/2002: experts express concern over Iraq-Belarus ties

According to a 22 September article in The Observer, new evidence suggests that Iraq has secretly maintained its nuclear procurement program. During a visit to Belarus in 2002, Abdul Tawab Mulla Howeish, Iraqi prime minister and minister of military industrialization, signed an agreement with Belarus to facilitate scientific and technical exchanges between the two countries. Citing a senior British diplomat, the article mentioned reports from a variety of sources about warming relations and possible arms deals between Iraq, Belarus, and Ukraine. Tim McCarthy, senior analyst at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told The Observer that he is concerned about such cooperation between Belarus and Iraq. In the past, Iraq conducted transactions with the Belarusian Tractor Factory in Minsk, which not only produces tractors, but is also involved in the production of missile launchers. McCarthy was particularly concerned over a deal involving the transfer by Belarus to Iraq of a plasma-spray machine used in anti-corrosion treatment for parts used in nuclear weapons. McCarthy said that such equipment would be hard to acquire legally under the UN sanctions regime.

[Peter Beaumont, Nick Paton Walsh, "Saddam's secret procurement network: Revealed: Iraq's quest to build nuclear bomb: New evidence proves that Saddam Hussein has continued his efforts to assemble an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction," The Observer, 22 September 2002; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.] {Entered 3/12/2003 AI}

6/16/99: BORDER POINTS CHOSEN FOR RECONSTRUCTION
Six border crossing points (Kammenny Loh, Bruzhy, Berastavitsa, Kazlovichy, Varshawski Most, and Novaya Huta) have been selected for renovation as part of a Belarus-Russia union program to improve customs infrastructure. The Executive Committee of the Union of Belarus and Russia has allocated less than half of the 250 million rubles ($4.08 million as of 16 June 1999) originally budgeted for the purpose, so work will be concentrated at the Kammeny Loh, Kazlovichy, and Berastavitsa sites.
[Radio 1 Network, 16 June 1999, in "Belarusian Border Points Chosen for Reconstruction," FBIS Document FTS19990616001867.] {Entered 4/12/00 LBB}
 
2/26/98: BELARUS ADOPTS EXPORT CONTROL LAW
Belarus adopted a Law on Export Control on 26 February 1998. Developed in cooperation with the United States and drawing on legislation adopted or pending in Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, the United States, and Russia, the law is designed to conform fully to international requirements.[1] The law stipulates export control objectives, principles, general rules and regulations, objects, authorities, and principles of interagency coordination, and provides for pre-license and post-shipment end-use checks as well as civil and criminal penalties for violations.  The legislation also requires the president and the Council of Ministers to adopt and publish lists of controlled items, which will be harmonized with international regimes and will likely be similar to Russian lists adopted in 1996, and lists of countries to which the export of these items is prohibited. The government has also enacted an Order on Improving Control Over Transfer of Specific Goods (Technologies and Services) Across the Customs Border, which includes new regulations on licensing and end-use checks.[2]
Sources:
[1] "Belarus Adopts Export Control Law," Press Release of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the United States of America, 26 February 1998.
[2] Andrei Makavchik, "Belarus' Export Control Developments and Participation in Multilateral Nonproliferation Regimes," The Monitor, Vol. 3/4, No. 4/1, Fall 1997/Winter 1998, pp. 35-37. {entered 11/30/98 FW}
 

Comments or questions? Contact Michael Jasinski at MIIS CNS: Michael.Jasinski@miis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2002 by MIIS.

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