Productive Sectors Committee at House of Representatives Examines Government bill 42.18 on Controlling the Export of Goods Intended for Dual Civil and Military Use
The Productive Sectors Committee at the House of Representatives held a meeting on Wednesday, June 17th, 2020, under the chairmanship of the Committee's Chairperson Said Chbaatou, with Minister of Industry, Trade, and Green and Digital Economy Hafid El Alamy. The meeting was devoted to examining Government Bill 42.18 on controlling the exports of goods intended for dual civil and military use and related services.
The Bill represents the commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco to the relative international regulation and conventions in this field, and its engagement to support the international community's efforts to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, via establishing and implementing a legal framework that enables it to control exports and imports of dual-use goods.
Also, the Government Bill complies with Security Council Resolution N°1540, which stipulates that "all States shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery."
The Bill under review stipulates that the exports of dual-use goods and the services related to them should be subject to prior authorization under the format of "export permit." The said Bill also stipulates controlling dual-use goods in transit in the event of a presumption, based on information, that those goods are intended to contribute wholly or partially to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In addition, the Bill stipulates establishing the "Committee on Dual-Use Goods and Their Related Services" to ensure effective coordination in controlling the export and import of such goods by engaging all the administrations concerned with the security and economic issues that are based on export development. Besides, the Bill enacts the obligations on exporters and importers of dual-use goods and the providers of related services, as well as the infringements and sanctions in cases of violation of the provisions of this law.
The members of the Productive Sectors Committee initiated a detailed discussion of the provisions of said Bill, especially the ones on the competences and tasks of the Committee on Dual-Use Goods and Their Related Services, and the system applied on the export of these goods.
The Committee members considered "the Bill to be a peculiar text that comprises two aspects, namely the legal aspect and the aspect relating to the perception of the State of several strategic matters." The members highlighted "the importance of organizing the provisions, improving some of them, and including a provision that determines the list of dual-use goods to be imported and exported via a regulatory instrument."
In his response to the comments of the Committee members on the competences of the Committee on Dual-Use Goods and Their Related Services, the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Green and Digital Economy noted that "the competences of the Committee are not the responsibility of the Ministry alone, but of other actors too." In the same respect, he added that "the Committee should have the means and facilitations to seek and acquire information on dual-use goods, taking into account their sensitivity and nature." The Minister also noted that "the Committee may not issue import and export permits until it is provided with information on the goods under review, and its opinion is binding."
Besides, Mr. El Alamy stated that "all countries have decided to condition the export or import of dual-use goods that might constitute a danger due to their use for undeclared purposes to the authorization of a committee, set up for this purpose, after it receives adequate information on these goods. The decision is the conclusion of an international convention that Morocco has signed."