USUN PRESS RELEASE # 68 (02)
May 14, 2002
Fact
Sheet: "Goods Review List" for Iraq
On May
14, 2002, the UN Security Council voted unanimously in
resolution 1409
to adopt a new export control system on Iraq. This resolution, and the
"Goods Review List" (GRL) it establishes, are the centerpiece of the
UN effort to revise UN sanctions on Iraq to ensure the rapid and
unimpeded flow of civilian goods to the Iraqi people while maintaining
critical controls on militarily-useful items.
Following the U.S.-led coalition's military action in 1991 to force
Iraq's military forces out of Kuwait, and Baghdad's subsequent
actions to crush anti-regime uprisings in both the north and the
south of the country, Iraq's infrastructure was in ruins. The
humanitarian situation was serious, but the Iraqi government was not
using the authority it had been given under UN Security Council
resolutions to import the food, medicine and other humanitarian
goods necessary to address immediate needs.
Security
Council Resolution 706 of August 15, 1991, proposed initially by
the United States, sought to establish a transparent mechanism to
allow Iraq to export oil to pay for humanitarian imports. The
attempt failed when Iraq refused to accept the resolution and
Baghdad thus prevented itself from selling its oil on world markets.
Numerous international observers reported the hardships endured by
the general population of Iraq as a result of Baghdad's refusal to
cooperate.
On April
14, 1995,
Security Council Resolution 986 established the UN
"Oil for Food"
program as a temporary measure to allow for the sale of Iraqi oil
for funds to meet the most pressing humanitarian needs of the Iraqi
people. Iraq took eighteen months to agree with the Security Council
on implementation. Oil exports did not begin until December 1996, with
the first food shipments purchased through the program not arriving
until March 1997 -- nearly two years after resolution 986
passed.
The Old System
From
March 1997, the Oil for Food system operated as follows:
Iraqi
oil revenue was deposited in a UN escrow account.
The Iraq
Sanction Committee, comprised of all 15 members of the Council,
reviewed almost all of Iraq's proposed purchases -- with foodstuffs
and certain medical, health and agricultural materials exempt from
review. This was solely to keep Iraq from obtaining militarily useful
items for rearmament.
Any
member of the committee could approve, hold or block a proposed
contract. In reviewing proposed purchases, members referred to
established international control lists of items related to nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons, ballistic missile programs and
conventional weapons.
Over
time Iraq was permitted to export increasing quantities of oil, and
the types of goods it could purchase expanded. From 1999 on, Iraq's
oil exports have been unlimited.
Of the
total of over $52 billion received to date in the UN's escrow account,
almost $33 billion has been contracted for humanitarian goods and oil
field supplies. Of this $33 billion, about $21 billion has actually
been delivered to Iraq. Most of the balance is either in production or
pending delivery. Roughly $5 billion worth of contracts (less than 10
percent) have been placed "on hold" by the committee because they
involve items suspected of having some military use to Iraq.
The New System
UN
escrow account for Iraqi oil revenue and restrictions on items of
potential military and military-related use are maintained.
UN export controls on purely civilian goods purchased by Iraq are lifted.
The
delivery of civilian goods to Iraq is streamlined. All contracts for
export of goods to Iraq under the Oil for Food program are presumed
approved unless found to contain item(s) on the "Goods Review List" (GRL).
The two
UN inspection bodies already assigned to monitor Iraq will use the GRL:
the UN Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Committee (UNMOVIC) and the
International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). They will examine all purchase contracts to see if they
contain GRL items. UNMOVIC and the IAEA have the authority to approve
all non-GRL items. Only items that are covered by the GRL, not entire
contracts, will be forwarded to the UN Sanctions Committee for further
review, and prompt approval or denial.
What This Means
Iraq can
now purchase civilian goods much faster, without lengthy review, so
long as contracts do not contain potential "dual use" items from the
GRL.
The GRL
is not a denial list. It is a pre-agreed upon list of items that
require additional scrutiny -- so-called "dual-use" items that may
have both a legitimate civilian use and a potential military use in a
prohibited nuclear, chemical, biological, ballistic missile or
conventional military program. Any and all civilian items not on the
GRL can be imported by Iraq with a minimum of delay.
UN Security
Council resolution 687 of April 3, 1991 will remain in force. Not
only does the resolution require Iraq to destroy its nuclear, chemical
and biological weapons programs, and limit the range of Iraq's
ballistic missiles to 150 km. The resolution also prohibits the sale
or supply to Iraq of all arms and related materials. This includes
dual-use products and technologies related to military purposes as
well as training and technical support. There will be no easing of
restrictions on Iraq's rearmament.
The
Security Council is united in its determination to provide for the
humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people while making clear its
determination to prevent Iraq from rearming.
The
clear action by the Security Council to adopt the GRL, a list that
captures in great detail those items that all states must subject to
close scrutiny, reinforces the obligation of all states to prevent
Iraq from evading or eroding its obligations established under UN
Security Council Resolutions.
The U.S.
will continue to work with the UN to contain Iraq's significant threat
to regional stability as we look forward to the day when a democratic
and representative government in Baghdad, at peace with its neighbors,
will lead Iraq to retake its rightful place in the community of
nations.
