Online system keeps exports safe

South Korea will provide a comprehensive online strategic material screening service to prevent companies from accidentally exporting products that can be used to make weapons of mass destruction, the government said yesterday.
Companies will have easy access to the expanded Strategic Materials Control System (www.yestrade.go.kr) starting on Monday, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said.
The new system has been upgraded in the last five months so users can get updated export control information from both the Ministry of Unification and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
In the past, the system was only linked to the Korea Customs Service.
“Companies can now receive expert service on what can be traded with North Korea and products that have the potential to be made into high-tech weapons that are banned by various international conventions,” a ministry official said.
He added that real-time access to export information will allow companies to save time, effort and money.
“They can also receive export permits online, while foreign companies and agencies can check to determine the authenticity of government-issued permits,” he said.
South Korea is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which seeks to control the export of nuclear materials and equipment; the Australia Group, which aims to prevent the spread of chemical and biological weapons and the Missile Technology Control Regime, or MTCR.
The MTCR aims to control the proliferation of missiles and space launch vehicles.
It also joined the Wassenaar Arrangement in 1996, which limits exports of dual-use goods and technologies.
Such goods can be turned into sophisticated weapons.
South Korean companies in the past have been cited for inadvertently shipping sensitive technologies abroad.
With the international community taking steps to penalize such offenses, Seoul has stepped up its own efforts to prevent trade of sensitive materials.
Seoul policymakers have said offenses involving sensitive materials can result in trade restrictions on locally made goods and those traded through the country.
This could have serious consequences on the country, which relies heavily on trade.

Yonhap