[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 135 (Friday, July 12, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36624-36626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17753]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 36625]]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
22 CFR Part 126
[Public Notice 2410]
Amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations
AGENCY: Department of State.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of State is amending the International Traffic
in Arms Regulation (ITAR) (22 CFR parts 120-130) to reflect that it is
no longer the policy of the United States to deny licenses, other
approvals, exports and imports of defense articles and defense
services, destined for or originating in the states of the former
Yugoslavia with the exception of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro). This includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Slovenia. With respect
to those countries no longer on the proscribed list, all requests for
licenses or other approvals involving items covered by the U.S.
Munitions List (22 CFR part 121) will be reviewed on a case-by-case
basis. The Yugoslavia licenses and approvals suspended by the Federal
Register notice of July 19, 1991 (58 FR 33322) continue to remain
suspended. Exports or other transfers of affected items may only take
place pursuant to new licenses or other approvals.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This amendment is effective July 12, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rene BeBeau, Office of Arms Transfer and Export Control Policy, Bureau
of Political-Military Affairs, Department of State (202-647-4231).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Upon the initialling of the Dayton accords,
the UN Security Council (UNSC) on November 22, 1995, adopted Resolution
1021, providing for a phased lifting of the UNSC arms embargo on all
the successor states of former Yugoslavia. With the signing of the
peace agreement on December 14, 1995, by the Republic of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and the submission of a report on
the signing by the UN Secretary General (``signing report'') on the
same date, the timeline for the phased lifting began.
UNSC Resolution 1021 provided that during the first 90 days from
the day the Secretary-General submitted the signing report, all the
provisions of the embargo under UNSC Resolution 713 remained in place.
For the second ninety days following the submission of the signing
report, all provisions of the arms embargo were terminated, except that
delivery of heavy weapons (as defined in the peace agreement),
ammunition therefor, mines, military aircraft and helicopters continued
to be prohibited until the arms control agreement referred to in Annex
1B of the Dayton accords had taken effect. After the 180th day
following the submission of the signing report, and after the
Secretary-General submitted an additional report (on the implementation
of Annex 1B), all provisions of the UNSC arms embargo terminated.
The Secretary-General submitted the report on the implementation of
Annex 1B (Agreement on Regional Stabilization) on June 14, 1996. June
14 is thus the day upon which the UNSC arms embargo on the states of
the former Yugoslavia, imposed by the Security Council in Resolution
713, terminated.
Section 126.1(c) of the ITAR states that whenever the UN Security
Council mandates an arms embargo, all transactions which are prohibited
by the embargo and which involve U.S. persons anywhere, or any person
in the United States, and defense articles and services of a type
enumerated on the United States Munitions List, irrespective of origin,
are prohibited under the ITAR for the duration of the embargo, unless
the Department of State publishes a Federal Register notice specifying
different measures. Notice of the policy of denial and suspension with
regard to the states of former Yugoslavia was published in the Federal
Register on July 19, 1991 (58 FR 33322).
The lifting at this time of the policy of denial with respect to
states of former Yugoslavia other than the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro),
and corresponding amendment to the relevant portion of Sec. 126.1(a) of
the ITAR, is consistent with developments in the region and is in
furtherance of our national security and foreign policy objectives.
The Federal Register notice of July 19, 1991, may not, however,
cease to be effective with respect to the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro)
without a certification to Congress by the President pursuant to
Section 540A of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related
Programs Appropriations Act, 1996, Pub. L. 104-107. No such
certification has been made.
Licenses and approvals subject to the new policy on the states of
the former Yugoslavia other than the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro)
include manufacturing licenses, technical assistance agreements,
technical data, and commercial defense article and defense service
exports and other transfers of any kind involving these countries under
the authority of the Arms Export Control Act and the International
Traffic in Arms Regulations.
This amendment to the ITAR involves a foreign affairs function of
the United States and thus is excluded from the major rule procedures
of Executive Order 12291 (46 FR 13193) and the procedures of 5 U.S.C.
553 and 554. This final rule does not contain a new or amended
information requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 22 CFR Part 126
Arms and munitions, Exports.
Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in the preamble, and under
the authority of Section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C.
2778) and Executive Order 11958, as amended, 22 CFR Subchapter M is
amended as follows:
PART 126--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 126 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: Secs. 2, 38, 40, 42, and 71, Arms Export Control Act,
Pub. L. 90-629, 90 Stat. 744 (22 U.S.C. 2752, 2778, 2780, 2791, and
2797); E.O. 11958, 41 FR 4311; E.O. 11322, 32 FR 119; 22 U.S.C.
2658; 22 U.S.C. 287c; E.O. 12918, 59 FR 28205.
Sec. 126.1 [Amended]
2. Section 126.1(a) is amended and revised by removing ``the states
of the former Yugoslavia'' and replacing it with ``the FRY (Serbia and
Montenegro),'' so that as revised, paragraph (a) reads as follows:
(a) General. It is the policy of the United States to deny
licenses, other approvals, exports and imports of defense articles and
defense services, destined for or originating in certain countries.
This policy applies to Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba,
Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia,
North Korea, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and
Vietnam. This policy also applies to countries with respect to which
the United States maintains an arms embargo (e.g. Burma, China, the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Haiti, Liberia,
Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Zaire) or whenever an export would not
otherwise be in furtherance of world peace and the security and foreign
policy of the United States. Comprehensive arms embargoes are normally
the subject of a State Department notice published in the Federal
Register. The exemptions provided in the regulations in this
[[Page 36626]]
subchapter, except Secs. 123.17 and 125.4(b)(13) of this subchapter, do
not apply with respect to articles originating in or for export to any
proscribed countries or areas. With regard to Sec. 123.27 the exemption
does not apply with respect to articles originating in or for export to
countries prohibited by a United Nations Security Council Resolution or
to which the export (or for which the issuance of a license for the
export) would be prohibited by a U.S. statute (e.g. by Section 40 of
the Arms Export Control Act, 22 U.S.C. 2780, to countries that have
been determined to have repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism, i.e., Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea,
Sudan and Syria).
* * * * *
Dated: June 28, 1996.
Lynn E. Davis,
Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.
[FR Doc. 96-17753 Filed 7-11-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-25-M