FRENCH LEGISLATION RELATING TO THE EXPORT OF
WAR WEAPONS AND ASSIMILATED EQUIPMENT
- DEFINITIONS OF WAR WEAPONS
Three main types and eight categories
I Military equipment (intended for the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces)
1. Firearms and ammunition for use in armed combat
2. Equipment required for the use of firearms or to take them to the place of use
3. Protective equipment against gas
II Non-military equipment and ammunition (intended for civilians)
4. "Self-defence" firearms and ammunition
5. Sporting firearms and ammunition (hunting and shooting)
6. Weapons with blades
7. Firearms used in fairgrounds and for decorative purposes, and their ammunition
8. Weapons and ammunition of historical interest and collector's items
III Any equipment, whether listed in one of the above categories or not, if it is subject to special import and export procedures (assimilated equipment)
2. SECURITY AND POLICE EQUIPMENT
- No control is exercised over most security and police equipment
- Ever since 1997 Amnesty International, followed by the French Coalition, have been drawing the French authorities' attention to instruments used to give electric shocks and to equipment used for cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (types of handcuffs, leg irons, stun bealts) which are not even mentioned in the French legislation.
- Under pressure from NGOs and public opinion, various government departments are working together on the subject. However, not until the European Commission has established the appropriate mechanism will it be possible to institute procedure similar to that applied to war weapons but based on a European list of security and police equipment.
3. CONTROLLING THE EXPORT OF WEAPONS FROM FRANCE
- Ever since the adoption of the Order in Council of 18 April 1939, exporting weapons from France has been forbidden by law.
- Consequently, anyone wishing to export weapons must obtain prior authorization from the Prime Minister or from the Secretary General for National Defence (to whom the former delegates his powers) in respect of the items listed in the first three categories, some of the items in the fourth category, and certain forms of assimilated equipment.
4. IMPLEMENTING THE CONTROL PROCEDURE
Prior authorization is granted on the basis of an opinion given by the Interministerial Committee on the export of war weapons (CIEEMG) which is chaired by the Secretariat General of National Defence and comprises the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Finance as well as other Ministers, e.g. the Minister for Home Affairs, sitting as Observers.
The procedure for obtaining such authorization applies in general to contracts for commercial sales and to direct cessions (e.g. French armed forces' equipment ceded free of charge or in return for payment) of war weapons.
There are several stages.
- A negotiation authorization gives an industrialist permission to draw up a draft contract with a foreign customer, but not to sign it. The manufacturer begins work on the sale on the basis of this document.
- A sale authorization
It should be noted that not all such authorizations result in a sale. Some sales fall through.
- After the initial acceptance, and once the equipment has been produced, a final authorization - a permit to export war weapons - is required. It is issued by the Directorate General of Customs.
5. ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
- The Executive has sole responsibility for controlling arms exports
At the moment, the subject is never debated in Parliament, as would be normal in a democratic country.
However, in April 2000, the French Parliament's Defence and Armed Forces Committee unanimously adopted seven proposals put forward by a Parliamentary fact-finding mission and designed to ensure transparency and institute a real Parliamentary debate.
So far, there has been no concrete outcome; there has not even been a debate in spite of the proposal made to the Parliamentarians by the Minister of Defence in December 2000.
- Some transparency was achieved during 2000 but the categories of equipment exported are still not specified
The two reports submitted to Parliament by the Minister of Defence in March 2000 (on exports during 1998) and in December (exports during 1999) did mark a step forward on the path towards greater transparency. They gave figures for the years' exports, described France's policy and reported on implementation of the European Code of Conduct. It was stated that respect for human rights would invariably be taken into account as a criterion, but the facts relating to some of the transfers show that this criterion is not always applied.
The second report responded to some of the Coalition's suggestions about transparency (in respect of light weapons, and cessions by the army whether in return for payment or not) but it did not specify the categories of equipment exported.
- There is room for doubt about the stringency of the controls cited by the French authorities
When hitherto confidential information was made available, as in the case of Rwanda, the M.P. of the 1998 Parliamentary fact-finding mission found that "weapons and ammunition were ceded in 31 cases without application of the proper procedure", and they added that "the same situation existed in respect of other countries".
Sources
- "Matériels de guerre, armes et munitions", French Journal Officiel No. 1074, May 1996 + updates
- "Rapport au Parlement sur les exportations d'armement de la France", French Ministry of Defence:
- 1998 results submitted in March 2000 (translated in English)
- 1999 results submitted in December 2000
- www.defense.gouv.fr/actualites/dossier/d82/index.html
- "Le contrôle des exportations d'armement" Report of a Parliamentary fact finding mission
Report No. 2334, Les documents d'information de l'Assemblée Nationale, Paris, 2000
- www.assemblee-nationale.fr/2/2cra.htm
- "Enquête sur la tragédie Rwandaise (1990-1994)" Report of a Parliamentary fact finding mission
Report No. 1271 , Les documents d'information de l'Assemblée Nationale, December 1998
