The 'Australia Group' is an informal group of countries (now joined by the European Commission) established in
1985 (after the use of chemical weapons by
Iraq in
1984) to help reduce the spread of
chemical and
biological weapons by monitoring and controlling the spread of technologies required to produce them. The group, initially consisting of 15 members, has increased to 41, including all
OECD members except Mexico, the
European Commission, all 27 EU member states,
Croatia,
Ukraine and
Argentina. The name comes from Australia's initiative in the 1980s to prevent proliferation, and it manages the secretariat.
The group maintains a common list of technologies that could be used in chemical and biological weapons programs which have export restrictions placed upon them. Delegations representing the members meet annually in
Paris.
Members
Argentina,
Australia,
Austria,
Belgium,
Bulgaria,
Canada,
Croatia,
Cyprus,
Czech Republic,
Denmark,
Estonia,
European Commission,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hungary,
Iceland,
Ireland,
Italy,
Japan,
Republic of Korea,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Malta,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Poland,
Portugal,
Romania,
Slovakia,
Slovenia,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
Turkey,
Ukraine, the
United Kingdom and the
United States.
External links
★
The Australia Group homepage