(MTCR): Missile Technology Control Regime

The MTCR stands for Missile Technology Control Regime, a Multilateral Export control regime. This multilateral export control is a group formed by countries that have contributed to the non-proliferation of mass destruction of weapons. 

Under the Multilateral Export control, there are namely four working groups like the

• The Nuclear Supplier Group(NSG) controls nuclear-related issues.
• The Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) controls the export of dual-use goods and conventional arms. 
• The Australia Group (AG) controls biological and chemical technologies used to make explosives.
• The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) controls all the missiles and other weapons that can be airdropped and cause destruction.

History

The MTCR was first founded in April 1987. This Union was first established by the G7 group of countries which primarily included: Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom. The first motive of MTCR was to control the export of explosive weapons or nuclear weapons that could cause destruction. They wanted to control the gun down or missile that could carry more than 500kg for a distance of 300km. In addition to the formal members, three unilateral adherents are added to the regime, recognised by the regime members like Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Estonia. Many countries like Macedonia, Romania, Israel and Slovakia have adhered to the government less civilly.

On the other hand, China has agreed to apply all the guidelines stated by the MTCR, but the membership is still under review. Now, MTCR is a union of 35 members, including India as their member. MTCR is credited with slowing down or stopping the various missile programs and export of ballistic weapons. 

The Objective of MTCR

MTCR is a group of 35 members, all agreeing to one term and condition. Each member of the Union has to establish and create group rules and policies regarding exporting weapons. There must be policies for uncrewed aerial vehicles, ballistic missiles, drones, cruise missiles, space launch vehicles, piloted vehicles, and other weapons under the annexe. The United States government produces this law. MTCR Guideline 8 states that “the adherence of all states to MTCR Guidelines would be welcome in the interest of international peace and security”. 

Equipment and Technology Annexe:

The equipment and Technology Annex includes two categories in which this equipment and the technologies behind it are divided:

Category 1:

This first category of Technology and equipment annexe includes air-travel equipment like a rocket or an unmanned air-transported delivery system and their subsystem. For category 1 items, the transport of production Technology is prohibited as per the regime.

Category 2:

The second category of items includes losing the raw material required to make the missile. It includes group-based equipment, propellant items, and launch items. The export of the category 2 things is much easier than the export of the 1st category. They need less supervision and checking.

Guidelines of MTCR:

The MTCR guidelines have many purposes and procedures for exporting missiles and weapons. 

• The primary purpose of this group is to stop the exploitation of nuclear and destructive weapons that can cause harm to land and people. It limits the production and export of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which can create biological, chemical and nuclear war. These guidelines also work to minimise the miss utilisation of those weapons and their falling into the hands of terrorists and traitors. 
• As we know, the annexe is divided into two categories that are subdivided according to the types. 
• For the transfer of the annexed item, the factors are: 

 The motive of the use of the weapon or the missile programs.

• The export of any object under the annexe category of 1 and 2 should have an equal amount of checking and control. The checking of category 1 is more important than 2.
• Where the transfer could be used to build weapons of mass destruction(WMD), the government will assent to the transfers of items in the Equipment and Technology Annex only on receiving appropriate assurances from the recipient’s government.

Conclusion

The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a framework for controlling the export of missile technology on a global scale. The proliferation of missiles and technologies related to missiles focuses on an unofficial political agreement between 35 nations. The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a worldwide initiative that was founded in April 1987 to control the development of ballistic missiles and other crewless delivery vehicles that have the potential to be used for chemical and biological attacks.