The Rakon files: Strict laws aim to vet weapons-linked exports

Rakon's products may have slipped through the net designed to vet export of products that can be used in weapons.

It is developing crystal oscillators specifically for military use, including the navigation systems of smart bombs and a "radiation-hardened" product for the United States "nuclear arms industry".

The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry's (MFAT) strategic goods list is designed to control the export of such weapons products. It does not specifically mention crystals or oscillators but includes components, equipment that can be used in weapons navigation, control, or target acquisition of weapons.

Goods and technologies listed are prohibited from being exported without consent of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

MFAT's website says particular restraint is exercised for export applications of any missile-related item. "If the New Zealand Government judges that they are intended to be used for the delivery of weapons of mass destruction there will be a strong presumption to deny such exports."

It is unclear whether Rakon declares its military exports for assessment.

Export of Rakon's weapons products may not sit well with Labour Party policies of promoting disarmament and making full declarations to the UN of arms exports.

Prohibited exports listed by the New Zealand Customs Service include "weapons certain conventional weapons and dual use (strategic) goods that have or may have military use, such as computers, navigation ... equipment".

When the issue of Rakon components going into weapons arose last year, Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton said he was satisfied the strategic list adequately controlled the export of goods that could be used for military purposes.

However, this was reportedly contradicted by an MFAT official who was quoted as saying that, although Rakon's crystals and oscillators could be used in military items, export controls did not apply to goods assembled overseas.

New Zealand is a signatory to a range of international agreements, treaties and conventions which seek to control or monitor the distribution of products that can be used in weapons.

These include the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, the Missile Technology Control regime and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

According to MFAT's Disarmament Division, these arrangements "seek to control the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ... the transfer of ... dual-use technologies [those with both civilian and military applications] with destabilising implications".

New Zealand's method of fulfilling its obligations is through the strategic goods list. Specified under the heading "munitions" are:

* "Specially designed components and accessories" for "target acquisition, designation, range-finding, surveillance or tracking systems".

* "Equipment specially designed for the handling, control ... of bombs, torpedoes, rockets, missiles, [and] other explosive devices".

* "Equipment for guidance and navigation specifically designed for [naval] military use."

New Zealand is also signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, UN Conventional Arms Register, and the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.