Brussels, 01/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 27 June, the Council of the EU adopted a regulation proposed by the Commission banning the Member States from trade in equipment or instruments with no other use than torture or the application of the death penalty. This regulation also brings in a strict regime to control exports of goods with multiple uses which may be used for torture or to inflict other punishments or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (mainly shackles, multiple chains or weapons using electric shocks). Lastly, it authorises the Commission to change the list of goods subject to controls as soon as new equipment comes onto the market. The regulation comes on top of the mechanism of restricted trade already in place: -control regimes on exports by the Member States concerning weapons and military equipment (such as anti-riot agents); -the control regime of exports on double-usage goods (regulation (EC) 1334/2000 of the Council), which is applied to various toxic chemical products; -national rules concerning exports of firearms (see also directive 91/477/EEC of the Council on the control of the acquisition and holding of weapons); -bans on exporting to the Côte d'Ivoire, Myanmar and Zimbabwe (regulations (EC) 174/2005, 798/2004 and 314/2004 of the Council).
"This is a question of bringing our rules into line with our basic principles", the spokesperson for the Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, explained to the press, but stressed the "symbolic nature" of this decision. "Repressive regimes will no longer be able to source their supplies from European companies", said Ms Ferrero-Waldner in a press release. "This new regulation proves that respect for human rights can be found in the very heart of the Union' s foreign policy", she continued, adding: "the Commission's objective is to encourage all countries which have not yet done so to abolish the death penalty, to ban torture and to follow the EU's lead on controls of trade in goods used to this end".
Please see also: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/human_rights/torture/guideline_en.htm