Foreign Trade Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Foreign Trade Act |
| Abbreviation: | AWG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Commercial administrative law |
| References : | 7400-4 |
| Original version from: | April 28, 1961 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 481, 495 ) |
| Entry into force on: | September 1, 1961 |
| Last revision from: | June 6, 2013 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1482 ) |
| Entry into force of the new version on: |
predominantly September 1st 2013 |
| Last change by: |
Art. 1 G of 10 July 2020 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1637 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
July 17, 2020 (Art. 4 G of July 10, 2020) |
| GESTA : | E042 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The German Foreign Trade Act ( AWG ) regulates the exchange of foreign currency, goods, services, capital and other economic goods with foreign countries. In 1961, the AWG replaced the allied foreign exchange laws that had existed since 1949, which continued to apply until German unification, but whose content was only relevant for intra-German traffic between the Federal Republic and the GDR . With the Foreign Trade Act, the federal legislature largely provided a framework for structuring the trade in goods abroad.
AWG and European Union
The matter regulated by the Foreign Trade Act is now heavily influenced by European law . In this respect, the Foreign Trade Act has been changed several times by the supranational requirements of the EU.
The AWG is no longer generally applicable in the domestic market
Already with the beginning of the former common market in the EEC (from 1957) and after the establishment of the European internal market with the treaties of Amsterdam and Maastricht (completion 1992, Art. 26 TFEU ), the regulation of the economy, especially the trade within the The borders of the European Community were no longer subject to the foreign trade laws of the individual member states, but became the supranational legislative competence of the EU. The EU internal market together with the EU Economic and Monetary Union (EURO) now form a single economic and currency area (domestic) with internal economy and internal trade without internal borders. For the associated Federal Republic of Germany, the internal market is therefore no longer "outside" or "abroad" and the German Foreign Trade Act is inapplicable or even unconstitutional in this respect.
The AWG is no longer generally applicable to third countries (abroad)
At the same time, with the implementation of the Common Trade Policy ( Art. 207 TFEU ) from 1971 onwards, the EU has the comprehensive EU foreign trade regime with EU customs tariff and numerous EU foreign trade (import and export) regulations (ordinances) under the most varied of names Non-EU countries or third countries / third countries (new "foreign countries") established, which form a legally higher-ranking "EU foreign trade law". As a result, the previous national foreign trade laws of the individual EU member states, including the German AWG, are inapplicable or illegal in relation to third countries as well.
Exceptional regulations
A specialty is the War Weapons Control Act (KWKG), which regulates the import, export and transit of war weapons .
For certain goods, the AWG stipulates approval reservations. In particular, goods that are dual-use - that is, can be used for civil, military or prohibited purposes - are subject to approval. The approval can be issued by the Federal Export Office ( Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control ) and in the business area of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
According to § 34 AWG, the export of goods or the production documents for goods that are prohibited according to the export list are made a criminal offense. If the export or the security of the Federal Republic of Germany is endangered, the act is even a crime . This means that the Foreign Trade Act is part of ancillary criminal law .
Previously, the AWG also contained provisions on possible wiretapping in the event of suspected prohibited transactions by a central office. The Federal Constitutional Court ruled these regulations (§§ 39–41 AWG) in the context of an abstract norm control procedure (1 BvF 3/92) on March 3, 2004 as unconstitutional , but due to the legal expiry of the validity of these regulations at the end of 2004 as acceptable explained. With the law of December 28, 2004, the legislature repealed Sections 39–41 AWG.
On the basis of Section 27 (1) AWG, the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV) was enacted to further develop the AWG and to fulfill the obligations arising from intergovernmental agreements ( Section 5 AWG) .
Annex L: Lists of countries
Annex L of the AWG contains so-called country lists. These classify the countries listed in them from a trade policy perspective according to various degrees of potential trade restrictions. The country lists apply to all areas of trade in goods.
Selection from the country lists according to German foreign trade law:
| list | Annex to / for | regulation | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country list A / B | AWG | Countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) | Repealed by the German Bundestag's printed matter 13/3317 of December 12, 1995 |
| Country list C | AWG | Countries of the Eastern Bloc countries and Cuba | Repealed by the German Bundestag's printed matter 13/3317 of December 12, 1995 |
| Country list F (F1 and F2) | AWV | Countries whose citizens can conclude freight contracts for the transport of general cargo by seagoing vessels flying a foreign flag with residents without the latter requiring a permit in accordance with the AWV | |
| Country list G (G1 and G2) | AWV | Countries whose insurance companies can take out insurance for air, sea or means of transport with residents without the need for a permit in accordance with the AWV | |
| Country list K | AWV | So-called "sensitive" countries | Repealed with the entry into force of the new foreign trade regulation on September 1, 2013 |
literature
- André Vollbracht: Goods traffic control according to the Foreign Trade Act within the framework of European Community law . In: Treatises on the law of the international economy , Vol. 6, 1988, 350 S. Verlag Recht und Wirtschaft, Heidelberg (review, inter alia. By Gerold Schmidt. In: DVBl. , 1988, pp. 1189–1190)
- Frank von Fürstenwerth: Discretionary decisions in foreign trade law . Carl Heymanns Verlag, Cologne 1985 (review and av Gerold Schmidt. In: Law of the international economy (RiW) , 1988, p. 329)
