Pakistan complying with international measures on N-tech, says US

WASHINGTON: Pakistan continues to work towards harmonising its national control list with items controlled by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Missile Technology Control Regime and Australia Group as well as taking positive moves such as adding catch-all provisions to its export licensing procedures. The Obama administration informed the Congress in a report.

The acting coordinator for Counter Terrorism at the State department Justin Siberell in the annual report on counter-terrorism said that along with list development, Pakistan developed industry internal compliance guidelines and an industry outreach programme for strategic technology sectors, which regularly shares information with these industries.

"The US government seeks to partner more closely with Pakistan on a further enhanced outreach campaign for industry to fully understand and implement Pakistan's export control requirements, as well as to begin a dialogue on controls on conventional weapons and related dual-use technologies," the report said.

The report presented to the Congress mentions that Pakistan participated, developed, and delivered a series of technical trainings to responsible government licensing and enforcement officials for the proper identification of dual-use commodities that could be used to create WMDs and/or their delivery systems. Overall, Pakistan was a committed partner that undertook great efforts to build its export control capabilities.

The US government also wished to begin a dialogue on controls on conventional weapons and related dual-use technologies, the state department said adding, Pakistan is a constructive and active participant in the Nuclear Security Summit process has worked to strengthen its strategic trade controls, including updating its national export control list.