EU tightens ban on equipment used for torture
Chains
(STRASBOURG) - The European Parliament approved Tuesday revised EU rules to prevent trade in goods and services that may contribute to torture or execution, such as electric chairs or spiked batons.
"As the European Union, we promote the global abolition of the death penalty with all the means, tools and instruments that are available to us", said the EU's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.
A 2005 Regulation imposing restrictions on trade has been a key EU tool for fighting torture and the death penalty. This bans the export of goods which have no other practical use than execution or torture and controls trade in products that have been designed for other purposes, but could be used for torture or execution.
However, the Regulation has been criticised for loopholes that allowed trade or brokering and advertising of such goods to continue.
Responding to European Parliament pressure, a legislative proposal was put forward to amend the Regulation in 2014.
The final compromise, adopted in three-way talks with the EU Commission and ministers, inserts a ban on the marketing and transit of equipment used for cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people in third countries.
The revisions include a specific set of rules for the export controls applied to prevent goods from being used for capital punishment in a third country. A Union general export authorisation, an exemption that can be invoked by any exporter, is foreseen for exports to countries that, like the EU Member States, have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Of course, this exemption is subject to a number of conditions which ensure that re-exports to other countries require prior approval. If the general exemption does not apply, exporters need to apply for prior authorisation, which may take the form of a global authorisation or an individual authorisation.
For the time being, these export controls apply to certain anaesthetics. A specific procedure empowers the Commission to list additional goods that have been approved, or actually used, for capital punishment by one or more third countries.
As regards the supply of certain services, the Regulation bans, in relation to goods whose export and import is prohibited, the supply of brokering services, technical assistance and training on their use. The presentation of such goods in international trade fairs in the EU, and the international supply and purchase of advertising space or time are also prohibited.
If the export of goods requires an authorisation but is not prohibited, the supply of brokering services and technical assistance in relation to the relevant goods also requires an authorisation. In some cases, the general authorisation may apply to technical assistance. The definition of brokering services is the same as that used in Council Regulation (EC) °428/2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use goods, but the new Regulation goes further and stipulates that an authorisation for brokering services is required whenever such services are supplied to a third country.
The Regulation also prohibits transit, which is defined as transport within the Union of non-Union goods which pass on their way to a destination in a third country. If the export of the relevant goods requires an authorisation but is not prohibited, the ban on transit applies if the transporter knows that the goods are intended to be used for capital punishment, torture or other ill-treatment.
"Banning the death penalty and torture are key goals of European trade and foreign policy and it is essential that EU companies do not contribute to these practices," said Parliament's rapporteur Marietje Schaake MEP.
European Parliament: adopted text will be available here (04.10.2016.)