Pages 262-264 from DEFE 70-2838

The document reports on the outcome of a technical working group meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) held in Interlaken, Switzerland. The meeting resulted in a complete agreement on a list of over 60 dual-use nuclear-related items to be controlled, along with guidelines and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining the understanding of subscribing governments. This new regime on dual-use nuclear controls, supplementary to the Zangger controls, is expected to be ratified at the next plenary NSG meeting in Warsaw in March.

The nature of the new regime is described as similar to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). It identifies and agrees on special measures to examine export applications for listed items that pose a nuclear proliferation threat. The MOU differentiates between countries that agree to abide by the guidelines and become full members and those that do not.

The document mentions that the Ministry of Defense (MOD) had some points regarding the list of items and desired broader coverage, but an acceptable compromise was reached. Adjustments may be made in the future to align the Zangger list, dual-use list, and trigger list items. The document highlights that consensus was achieved for the majority of items, exceeding expectations.

A previous issue arose regarding the guidelines being explicitly limited to non-nuclear weapon states. A compromise was reached, acknowledging the nuclear weapon states and setting out an essential limitation for non-nuclear weapon states.

The resource implications of the new regime are difficult to quantify at this stage, but it may involve additional work in the DTI and MOD/DIS. The German government anticipates an increase in staff to handle the workload.

Overall, the document portrays the NSG technical group meeting as successful, with significant progress made towards the formal ratification of the nuclear dual-use regime, which is seen as a significant step in international proliferation controls.