The Australia Group(AG)Secretariat

Published purpose

The Australia Group (AG) is an informal forum of countries which, through the harmonisation of export controls, seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons (CBW). Coordination of national export control measures assists AG participants to fulfil their obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) to the fullest extent possible. The CBW counter-proliferation objectives of the AG are shared by the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, which has a mandate to prevent terrorists and those that harbour them from acquiring and using CBW and related materials. These commitments are embedded in the Global Partnership’s (GP) “Biosecurity Deliverables” and “Strategic Vision” for Chemical Security Programming, and Canada and other GP Partners have been very active in delivering on these commitments. This Project seeks to advance the shared objectives of both the AG and the GP to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons by assisting representatives from non-member countries to attend AG Dialogue meetings, training and workshops, and invited guests to speak at AG meetings, who would otherwise not be able to attend.