India's Export Control – The SCOMET List

Abstract

Sometime in 1984, a United Nations investigation team found that Iraq had used chemical weapons in its war with Iran. The team found that only some of the chemicals and materials for its chemical weapons had been sourced through legitimate business channels. To curb sale of certain chemical products, some countries introduced export controls. But such export controls were never uniform as they differed from nation to nation and attempts were made to circumvent these regulations. This led to the formation of Multilateral Export Control Regimes which provided uniform norms and regulations for the member nations to control the export of sensitive items and technologies.

The Indian Government has liberalized import and export restrictions to a large extent in the last decade. Yet, some restrictions continue to exist like those intended to cover goods and technologies which can potentially have dual-use. This article aims to discuss India's export control