How Italian arms exports will change
After the green light from the Senate, the bill amending the law of 9 July 1990, n. 185, which regulates the legislation on the export of armaments of the national defense industry.
The arms export bill lands in the Chamber.
Last February 21, the Senate approved the government-initiated bill which dictates new rules for the control of the export, import and transit of armament materials.
“The examination began in Montecitorio in the joint Foreign Affairs and Defense commissions, in the referring body. For the government, these are "updates" and "simplifications" of the legislation, currently based on the principle of the necessary authorization for export and import, which is decided at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Uama, "Unit for the authorization of armament materials »” Il Sole 24 Ore reported yesterday.
The provision introduces "some updates" in order to "make national legislation more responsive to the challenges arising from the evolution of the international context". This is what we read in the report on the measure which consists of a single article submitted to the Chamber for consideration.
In fact, last 3 August the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani, approved a bill to introduce amendments to the law of 9 July 1990, n. 185. That is, the law under which, for example, the export of bombs and missiles to Saudi Arabia as well as to the United Arab Emirates was prohibited, to prevent their use in the conflict in Yemen ( both embargoes were lifted this year last ).
All the details.
THE RESTORATION OF THE CISD
Among the main innovations, the provision restores the inter-ministerial Committee for the exchange of defense armament materials (CISD) at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, composed of the President of the Council of Ministers, who chairs it, and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Interior, Defence, Economy and Finance, Business and Made in Italy. The aim is to "ensure adequate coordination at the highest political level of strategic choices regarding arms exchanges".
IN PLACE OF UAMA
The role of the Cisd is to establish general guidelines for the application of the law that regulates the matter (law 185/1990) and general directives for the transfer of weapons as well as to define general criteria for the application of prohibitions on the transfer of materials .
Until now, the structure that regulated law 185 was within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: the Uama agency, or Unit for the authorization of armaments materials which was responsible for authorizing or not the trade in armaments. The defense industry had long launched an appeal to Parliament to amend the law to streamline the authorization processes. Now the government has done so.
The Cisd also has the task of applying the prohibitions established by law 185/1990 that do not derive from international obligations.
In particular, the Cisd will have fifteen days to examine the bans proposed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation "if the deadline has expired in vain (…), the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is considered accepted", we read in the text.
SIMPLIFICATION OF OBLIGATIONS FOR BUSINESSES
Furthermore, the Bill aims to simplify the obligations for companies, extending the deadline from 180 days to 12 months for the presentation of documentation on transfer operations; at the same time, sanctions are expected to increase in the event of failure to present the documentation, which will go from between 150 and 1,500 euros to between 500 and 2 thousand euros. The bill specifies that the obligations to communicate banking transactions in this area are the responsibility of banks and financial intermediaries.
THE CHAPTER ON CREDIT INSTITUTIONS ABOLISHED FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT TO PARLIAMENT
Not only that, the obligation requiring that the report to Parliament contain "a chapter on the activity of credit institutions operating in Italian territory concerning the operations governed by this law" has been repealed, based on the data transmitted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Mef). However, the provision which provides that all relevant banking transactions must be notified to the MEF which must authorize them within 30 days remains unchanged.
As the Confindustria newspaper recalls, "the ABI has been asking for some time to delete this information, because the banks fear that being associated with the sale of weapons and defined as "armed" will cause them to lose customers".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/come-cambieranno-le-esportazioni-italiane-di-armamenti/ on Wed, 03 Apr 2024 05:05:56 +0000.