International Trade Law News

The Financial Times Deutschland has reported that Iran is actively seeking investment from German companies and that it will provide the companies with financial guarantees on their investments in Iran.

The article notes that Germany is Iran's most important trading partners, exporting machinery, automobiles and automotive parts, iron and metal products and chemical products to Iran

While the FTD article is in German, an English summary of the article can be found at Deutsche Welle and a Google translated version of the article can be found here.

Labels: Germany, Sanctions; Iran

There has been a great deal of criticism of Germany's Federal Office of Economics and Export Control [known as BAFA] recent decision to approve the sale and export equipment to be used in three new gas liquefaction facilities in Southern Iran, even though such sale is not prohibited by German law or current U.N. sanctions.

From McClatchy Newspapers' Washington Bureau:

Germany's allies are dismayed that the German government has granted a German firm permission to supply three natural gas plants to Iran at the same time they're trying to pressure Iran into suspending its nuclear program, U.S. and European officials said Tuesday.

"The Germans are very wobbly, and certainly the French, the British and the Americans are quite worried," said a European diplomat, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "Their spine needs to be stiffened. The more mixed messages, the more it plays into the Iranians' hands."

There is "significant concern" in the Bush administration over the $156 million natural gas deal, said a U.S. official, who also requested anonymity, citing diplomatic sensitivities.

The comments appeared to be an effort to pressure the German government to reconsider its decision by calling public attention to the deal.

Labels: Germany, Sanctions; Iran

Germany's federal export control office has cleared the way for an engineering company to build three plants for Iran to liquefy natural gas, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control [known as BAFA] concluded after a 12-month investigation that plans by Steiner-Prematechnik-Gastec to build equipment for converting natural gas to a liquid do not violate sanctions against Iran.

"Because the equipment would be built here and then sent to Iran, that work does not fall under any existing sanctions involving Iran," said Holger Beutel, a spokesman for the government office.

Labels: Export Controls, Germany, Sanctions; Iran

Japan's Daily Yomiuri reports that the Japan-made vacuum pumps found at a North Korean nuclear facility by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were exported from Japan to Taiwan and then reexported to a North Korean trading company. The article states that the North Korean trading company, known as Namchongang, is "headed" by a former North Korean diplomat who served as North Korea's representative for purposes of the IAEA inspection of the nuclear complex at Yongbyon, North Korea.

The article also notes that a separate investigation conducted in Germany that found that Namchongang also purchased products from Germany for use in nuclear facilities and exported them to North Korea via Syria.

Japanese police have apparently charged the president of the Japanese trading company with violating Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law by exporting eight items, including the pumps, without obtaining permission from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Labels: Germany, Japan, North Korea