India wins STA-1 status from US despite not being NSG member
04 Aug 2018
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The United States has given India the Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) status, making it the third Asian country after Japan and South Korea to get the status.
A federation notification was issued by the US government, paving the way for high-technology product sales to India, especially in the defence sector. India is the 37th nation to be given the STA-1 status by the US, which normally gives it to its NATO allies.
As a result, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), formally recognises under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) India’s membership in the WA multilateral export control regimes and revises the EAR accordingly, the federal notification said.
“In addition, to export control-related benefits for India as a result of prior amendments to the EAR in furtherance of the US-India global strategic partnership, BIS places India in Country Group A:5, which provides the benefit of greater availability of License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) for exports and reexports to, and transfers within India under the EAR,” it said.
Interestingly, the US granted India the status despite its not being a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The STA-1 status has been granted only to countries who are members of four export control regimes — Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), Australia Group (AG) and the NSG.
The Trump Administration noted that India is a member of three of the four multilateral export regimes. Political opposition from China has stlled India’s membership of NSG.
India was admitted to the MTCR on 27 June 2016, the Wassenaar Arrangement on 7 December 2017, and the Australia Group on 19 January 2018.
By placing India in the STA-1 list, the United States has indicated that for all practical purposes India adheres to the export control regimes of the NSG.
According to commentators, the exception for New Delhi conveys a strong message to China and the world, taking into account that America’s closest ally Israel is yet to be given this status, primarily because it is not a member of these multilateral export control regimes.
“This action befits India's status as a Major Defence Partner,” noted the US federal notification. It also recognised that India was a member of three of the four multilateral export regimes.
“This rule is another in the series of rules that implement reforms to which the United States and India mutually agreed to promote global nonproliferation, expand high technology cooperation and trade, and ultimately facilitate India’s full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes.”
According to the notification, the US and India continue their commitment to work together to strengthen the global non-proliferation and export control framework and further transform bilateral export control cooperation to recognise the full potential of the global strategic partnership between the two countries.
