Bill seeks to check transfer of sensitive nuclear material

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New Delhi: While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Washington visit is aimed at taking the civilian nuclear co-operation deal forward with the Barack Obama administration, his government has begun taking steps towards operationalisation of the N-deal. On Wednesday, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma introduced a Bill that seeks to put in place checks and balances on transfer of sensitive nuclear material and equipment — a first step towards gaining entry in the elite ‘Nuclear Suppliers Group’ club, so that India has access to cutting edge equipment and nuclear material needed to produce power. Watertight norms on trading of sensitive items like radioactive material are a must before any country is ushered in to the NSG.

The proposed legislation, titled ‘Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2009’, was tabled by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma in Rajya Sabha. The norms in the proposed Bill seeks to have a tighter regime on trade of goods that could be used for military and civilian purposes — known as dual use items. This would be done by imposing quantitative restrictions on such goods.

Speaking at a media interaction in Washington on Tuesday, Singh said: “We agreed on the early and full implementation of our Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. Our strategic partnership should facilitate transfer of high technologies to India. The lifting of U.S. export controls on high technology exports to India will open vast opportunities for giant research and development efforts. It will enable U.S. industry to benefit from the rapid economic and technological transformation that is now underway in our country,”.

The Bill incorporates provisions of the ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act 2005. Thus, if sensitive information on dual-use technology is leaked, such service providers will be penalised under the new FTDR Act. Moreover, the list of chemical items, microorganisms, sensitive materials equipment and technologies — known as SCOMET — will be expanded to include more nuclear material, toxic chemicals, aerospace equipment etc.