Clifford Chance

States Bring A Human Rights Focus To Dual Use Export Controls With A New Code Of Conduct

April 4, 2023

On March 30, 2023, the multilateral Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative announced the release of a Code of Conduct. The Initiative, launched in a December 2021 Joint Statement of the governments of Australia, Denmark, Norway, and the United States, highlights the importance of trade in advanced technologies while also acknowledging the danger that such technologies pose when used in ways that results in serious human rights abuses. In the 2021 Joint Statement, the signatory countries resolved to issue a code of conduct, with the goal that other states would join forces in using trade and export control measures to curb the use of advanced technology to inflict human rights abuses.

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