The Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle, short BAFA) is a German federal agency. The BAFA is authorised to make the final decision on whether German goods are permitted for export.

History

The predecessor Bundesamt für Wirtschaft (BAW) (Federal Office of Economics) was founded in 1954. Its original name was Bundesamt für gewerbliche Wirtschaft (Federal Office for Industrial Economics). In 1975 it moved to

Eschborn Eschborn () is a town in the Main-Taunus district, Hesse, Germany. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 21,488 (2018). Eschborn is home to numerous corporations due to it ...

, where in 1975 the Bundesausfuhramt (Federal Office of Export) came into being. Eventually both offices got combined. BAFA's parent agency is the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

Responsibilities

All items listed by the Australia Group,

Missile Technology Control Regime The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a multilateral export control regime. It is an informal political understanding among 35 member states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology. The regime was formed ...

Nuclear Suppliers Group The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multilateral export control regime and a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of two sets of Guidelines for nuc ...

, and

Wassenaar Arrangement The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, also known simply as the Wassenaar Arrangement, is a multilateral export control regime governing the international transfer of conventional ...

are subject to export control in Germany. Germany implements the European Dual Use Export Control Annex. All these control documents are the responsibility of BAFA.

Oversight for Arms Trade Treaty

The BAFA is tasked with oversight of the Arms Trade Treaty in Germany, and the domestic Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz (War weapons control act). The BAFA has been entrusted by the

Council of the EU The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

with the technical implementation of the EU ATT Outreach Project. The BAFA receives arms and dual-use export license applications and also uses a consolidated list to determine how the item should be controlled. Germany's consolidated Export List includes a section for arms and one for dual-use items. Some items in the arms section, contained in a specific list known as "war weapons," are subject to additional prohibitions and licensing requirements under the War Weapons Control Act, and are reviewed and approved by another part of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. When applying for an export license to BAFA, applicants have to submit a copy of the war weapons license granted by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology if the export is subject to the War Weapons Control Act.

Foreign trade

The office oversees German

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

s in general and the export of weaponry and

dual-use technology In politics, diplomacy and export control, dual-use items refer to goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications.

in particular. The BAFA keeps detailed lists of goods which have to be scrutinized before a

consent Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual consent. Consent as understood i ...

is possible. Hereby it considers embargos and international

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

s such as the

Chemical Weapons Convention The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, is an arms control treaty administered by the Organisation for ...

and the

. On behest of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

the BAFA also enforces the Union's

regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

concerning the

import An importer is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. Import is part of the International Trade which involves buying and receivin ...

of specific goods including

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

. Moreover, the office supports countries outside the European Union in case they are about to establish their own export control systems.

Promotion of economic development

The BAFA strives to improve the competitiveness of

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organizat ...

. It promotes

management consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

, helps companies to present their products at international trade fairs etc.

Energy and environmental protection

The main goal is to promote

efficient energy use Efficient energy use, or energy efficiency, is the process of reducing the amount of energy required to provide products and services. There are many technologies and methods available that are more energy efficient than conventional systems. For ...

as well as establishing a

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

energy supply. The office's programmes for that matter pursue for example a growing use of

cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...

. This includes incentives for evolvements in the field of

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

on the grounds of

solar thermal energy Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in Industrial sector, industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar thermal collectors are classified ...

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

and

heat pump A heat pump is a device that uses electricity to transfer heat from a colder place to a warmer place. Specifically, the heat pump transfers thermal energy using a heat pump and refrigeration cycle, cooling the cool space and warming the warm s ...

s. The BAFA also offers

professional certification Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply ''certification'' or ''qualification'', is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Not all certifications ...

for appropriate constructions and consultants for

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less and better sources of energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavi ...

References

External links

*
BAFA page on export control

BAFA on EU Cooperation in Dual-Use Export Control
{{Authority control Economy of Germany German federal agencies Government agencies established in 1954 1954 establishments in West Germany Foreign trade of Germany Military regulatory authorities of Germany