Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The CoCom ( dt . Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls , initially Coordinating Committee for East West Trade Policy , dt . Coordination Committee on East-West trade , mostly short CoCom or COCOM ) served in the Cold War regulating the export of Western technology to the states of the Eastern Bloc .

activities

The Paris- based committee was founded on November 22, 1949 and began its work on January 1, 1950. The founding document stated: "It is the policy of the United States to use its economic resources and advantages in trade with communist-ruled states in order to promote national security and the foreign policy goals of the United States."

It was initiated at the instigation of the USA and was intended to prevent countries under Soviet influence (states in the Council for Mutual Economic Aid (Comecon)) from gaining access to modern technology . This mainly concerned weapons, nuclear energy technology, industrial plants and microelectronics. The strategically important technologies and goods affected were summarized in the “ CoCom list ”. Older technology was released and the latest technology incorporated instead. Due to the additional costs incurred by the Eastern Bloc countries and the increasing development deficit, this embargo or this technology boycott can be described as successful. However, export controls were often circumvented via third countries at high costs, which was not only in the interests of the Eastern Bloc countries themselves, but also in the interests of the manufacturers.

In addition to the CoCom, there was also the China Committee , ChinCom , since 1952, which set even stricter criteria for exports to Red China than for those to the rest of the Comecon area. In addition to the USA, members were the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Japan. After the end of the Korean War, differences between the members soon arose, so that ChinCom was dissolved in 1958 and merged with the CoCom.

The CoCom was not an intergovernmental organization based on international treaties and able to make legally binding regulations, but a purely informal advisory and coordination body. The member states were therefore not legally obliged to implement the recommendations, but in fact they were nevertheless complied with due to political pressure from the USA. The member countries had to apply to the CoCom for planned business relationships with the socialist states, which in turn, after a time-consuming examination, could refuse or agree to it without justification.

The work was based on three main directions:

  • Preparation of prohibited lists,
  • Consultations on updates to the latest technologies,
  • Meetings to examine the effectiveness of trade restrictions.

The economics ministries of the member states were able to apply for exemptions for reasons of economic policy. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the CoCom recommendations became part of foreign trade law through ordinances, in particular the Foreign Trade Act and the War Weapons Control Act. The German federal authority responsible for export control was the Federal Office for Economics and Export Control (BAFA) in Eschborn.

The most important means of pressure were threats of sanctions: US companies that violated the requirements could be excluded from public contracts. Especially under US President Ronald Reagan , the defense against Eastern industrial espionage and illegal technology exports was strengthened in the 1980s . A plausible proof of whereabouts had to be provided to the Western export control authorities .

In the German Democratic Republic , the KoKo department and the HVA of the MfS dealt with the procurement of technical documents and embargo goods, i.e. high-performance computers, systems for microelectronic production and military technology.

In return for a high boycott surcharge in the limited foreign exchange available, some Western companies and middlemen were nonetheless willing to deliver high technology to the Eastern Bloc. For the proof of whereabouts, bogus companies were sometimes founded in western countries or the technological systems were transported halfway around the world to cover up traces. The real demand could not be covered with this. The result was in-house development and production in the Eastern Bloc countries. One example is the development and production of semiconductor memory circuits in the GDR.

By a joint decision of the members, the committee was dissolved on March 31, 1994, but the export control lists are still being maintained. In December 1995, the Wassenaar Agreement , to which the eastern transition states, including Russia, also belong, took over.

Member states

The CoCom consisted of all NATO countries (except Iceland) as well as Australia and Japan, specifically:

Other countries applied CoCom regulations without being members themselves:

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Lambers: The collective trade embargo as an institute of international law . Dissertation, Göttingen 1956.
  • Gunnar Adler-Karlsson: Western Economic Warfare 1947-1967 . Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1968.
  • Bernhard Großfeld , Abbo Junker : The CoCom in international business law . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1991, ISBN 3-16-145674-2 .
  • Horst Müller, Manfred Suss, Horst Vogel: The industrial espionage of the GDR. The scientific and technical clarification of the HVA. edition ost, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-360-01099-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tao Peng: China Committee (CHINCOM). In: Yuwu Song (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Chinese-American Relations . McFarland, Jefferson, NC 2009, ISBN 978-0-786-44593-6 , pp. 58-59.
  2. ↑ Frank Cain The US-led trade Embargo on China. The origins of CHINCOM, 1947-52. In: Journal of Strategic Studies. Volume 18, No. 4, 1995, ISSN  0140-2390 , pp. 33-54, doi: 10.1080 / 0140239950843761 .