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Summary:
This report provides background and current status information on the regimes intended to limit the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and missiles. Weapons of mass destruction (WMD), especially in the hands of radical states and terrorists, represent a major threat to U.S. national security interests. Multilateral regimes were established to restrict trade in these goods and technologies and to monitor their civil applications. Congress may consider the efficacy of these regimes in consideration of the potential renewal of the Export Administration Act, as well as other proliferation-specific legislation in the 109th Congress.
The nuclear nonproliferation regime encompasses several treaties, extensive multilateral and bilateral diplomatic agreements, multilateral organizations and domestic agencies, and the domestic laws of participating countries. Since the dawn of the nuclear age, U.S. leadership has played a decisive role in developing the regime. While the regime enjoys almost universal international agreement opposing the further spread of nuclear weapons, several challenges to it have arisen in recent years: India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in 1998; North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003; and Pakistani scientists sold nuclear technology illicitly to Iran, North Korea, and Libya. Efforts are underway to strengthen national controls on nuclear exports and coordinate interdiction efforts multilaterally.
The chemical and biological weapons (CBW) nonproliferation regimes contain three elements: the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), and the Australia Group. The informal Australia Group coordinates export controls on CBW-related materials and technology. Current Australia Group issues are expansion of membership, possible transhipment of restricted commodities, and the Group's relationship to the Chemical Weapons Convention. After 25 years of negotiations, the CWC opened for signature in January 1993 and entered into force in April 1997. It prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons, and mandates the destruction of existing chemical weapon arsenals. BWC states parties have not yet been able to agree upon a verification protocol to be added to the Convention, which remains without verification or enforcement provisions.
The missile nonproliferation regime is founded not on a treaty, but an informal agreement called the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Created in 1987, the MTCR's goal is to limit the spread of missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The regime has expanded from 7 to 34 partner countries and has modified its guidelines to include missile systems for the delivery of chemical and biological weapons. The regime has no treaty or enforcement organization. Although it is thought to have been instrumental in blocking several missile programs, it has been unable to stop North Korean missile development, production, and exports, or to win the full cooperation of Russian and Chinese entities.
This report is updated annually.
