Embargo

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Under embargo goods to products or groups, which in the case of a understands trade embargo for a particular country or group of countries may no longer be offered free or traded.

Reasons for an embargo

The government of one country wants to impose its will or political direction on the government of another country. There are also various levels of influence over diplomatic pressure , public condemnation, alliance politics, trade embargo and armed conflict . The idea is based on the assumption that every country in a world based on the division of labor either exports raw materials or imports semi-finished and / or finished products. If this trade is stopped, the pressure on the respective government can be increased. However, there is usually deep disagreement about the necessity and scope of an embargo.

Reasons for certain goods / groups

There are political, military and economic reasons to exclude certain goods or groups of goods from trade. During the Cold War it was mainly for military and economic reasons. Since the quality of a weapon could determine victory or defeat in the event of a war, one of the main concerns was not to let high-tech products fall into the hands of a possible future opponent.

Embargoed goods

Especially products from the field of high technology were classified as "Embargoware" during the Cold War. The main aim was to make it more difficult for the Warsaw Pact countries to access the following possibly militarily important products:

List: (not complete)

With the CoCom list, a complete list of all goods was defined that, from the point of view of the USA , should or may not come to countries in the Eastern Bloc .

Affected countries or groups of countries

During the Cold War these were: (list not exhaustive)

Other countries that are and / or have been affected by embargoes:

Definition of "dual use"

Harmless: Transporting a transformer weighing approx. 300 t
MGM-134A Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (SICBM) Hard Mobile Launcher (HML) (planned introduction of the launch system was discontinued by the USA in 1992)

" Dual-use " products (analogously: "other use of a product") are goods or systems that are actually harmless and at first glance do not lead to suspicion of embargo goods.

Examples for "dual use": (list not complete ")

Bypassing the embargo

Illegal bypassing

Countries affected by embargoes try to cover them up as best they can by trading through unsuspicious third countries. The illegal trade of such embargo goods promises the (possibly dodgy) merchant a massive extra profit. Therefore this trade is mostly only traded with "hard foreign exchange" (ie: dollars, euros, formerly DM) in the form of cash in order to leave as few traces as possible. The goods are then usually declared "unsuspicious" in the delivery papers and traded several times via third countries until the trail slowly gets lost. This increases the cost of these products, since every middleman wants to earn some money with them.

In the former East Germany to specifically in was Ministry of Foreign Trade of the range commercial coordination ( "KoKo") was founded.

Legal circumvention

Since an article description is used on the delivery papers for every product , many companies in export-strong countries pay close attention to the texts and descriptions. If only one term is changed slightly, an article may be suspected of being embargoed . This would lead to an extremely long processing time at the airport, seaport or at customs or, in the worst case, to confiscation . Due to the often different interpretations of embargo provisions , what is a legal marking in one case can be classified as illegal by other customs authorities in the other. For some products, due to different interpretations, there is a need for prior clarification at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry or the Ministry of Economic Affairs through an export license .

declaration

Distributors of high-tech goods were therefore asked to put a clear and distinct label on the delivery papers that the delivery or parts of it are subject to embargo provisions and that the recipient is thus clearly informed.

Typical declaration information

software

Example: The US software manufacturer Adobe on export restrictions:

" 11. Export Regulations. You agree not to use, ship, transfer, or export the SOFTWARE in any manner to which United States export regulations or other export laws, restrictions or regulations (hereinafter the "Export Laws") export is prohibited. Additionally, if the SOFTWARE is subject to export controls under export laws, you represent that you are not a national or resident of any embargoed country (including, but not limited to, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Cuba and North Korea), and there is no prohibition under export laws to accept the SOFTWARE. All rights to USE the SOFTWARE are granted on condition that these rights will be forfeited if you fail to comply with the terms of this AGREEMENT. "

The user has to agree during the installation, otherwise the software cannot be installed. (As of April 2014)

hardware

Typical text modules are / were:

"" These goods are subject to export regulations and may not be exported to countries that are subject to an export ban. ""

These or similar references can still be found today on delivery notes and sometimes as stickers on certain products. The aim was and is to ensure that embargoed goods do not accidentally circumvent the embargo via unsuspecting third parties (or "straw men").

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Elisalex Henckel: Embargoed goods: The buyer of the North Korean dictators. In: welt.de . March 11, 2010, accessed January 22, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Embargo trade: high profits, low risk . In: Der Spiegel . No. 2 , 1996 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Under the care of the dictator . In: Der Spiegel . No. 32 , 1990 ( online ).
  4. ↑ License conditions on the website of Adobe Systems Licenses and Terms of Use - Adobe. In: adobe.com. January 23, 2001, accessed January 22, 2017 .

Web links