Australian group
The Australia Group (Engl. Australia Group ) is a since April 1985 existing, informal group of 40 countries and the European Commission, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Convention on Biological Weapons (Engl. Biological Weapons Convention signed). It works out proposals on how the member states can prevent the use and spread of chemical and biological weapons without restricting the legitimate trade in related goods. The latter is in the self-interest of the participating countries, as they are among the leading exporters in the chemical industry and biotechnology.
Attendees
The participating states are Argentina , Australia , Belgium , Bulgaria , Denmark , Germany , Estonia , the European Commission , Finland , France , Greece , Ireland , Iceland , Italy , Japan , Canada , the Republic of Korea , Croatia , Latvia , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Malta , New Zealand , the Netherlands , Norway , Austria , Poland , Portugal , Romania , Sweden , Switzerland , the Slovak Republic , Slovenia , Spain , the Czech Republic , the Republic of Turkey , Ukraine , Hungary , Great Britain , the USA and the Republic of Cyprus .
Delegates meet once a year in Paris . Since the first meeting, 27 other states and the European Commission have been added to the 14 founding members. Since 2007 Croatia has been the youngest participating country.
See also
literature
- Amy E Smithson: Separating fact from fiction: The Australia Group and the chemical weapons convention , 1997