Australia Group
Overview:
| Formation: | June 1985. |
| Members: | 43 Members. |
| Headquarters: | RG Casey Building, Canberra, Australia. |
| Organization Type: | Export control regime |
| Purpose: | To control the spread of chemical and biological weapons. |
| Official Language: | English. |
What is Australia Group?
The Australia Group is an informal forum of countries to ensure that the export does not contribute to the development of chemical and biological weapons in the world.
Formation:
The Australia Group officially came into existence in June 1985, after the use of chemical weapons by Iraq in 1984 during the Iran-Iraq war.
Members:
Initially, the Australia Group had 15 members, and since then, member countries has grown from 15 to 42 countries plus European Union.
 Argentina |
 Australia |
 Austria |
 Belgium |
 Bulgaria |
 Canada |
 Croatia |
 Czech Republic |
 Denmark |
 Estonia |
 European Union |
 Finland |
 France |
 Germany |
 Greece |
 Hungary |
 Iceland |
 India |
 Ireland |
 Italy |
 Japan |
 Cyprus |
 Latvia |
 Lithuania |
 Luxembourg |
 Malta |
 Mexico |
 Netherlands |
 New Zealand |
 Norway |
 Poland |
 Portugal |
 Romania |
 South Korea |
 Slovakia |
 Slovenia |
 Spain |
 Sweden |
 Switzerland |
 Turkey |
 Ukraine |
 United Kingdom |
 United States |
Objectives:
The main objective of Australia Group participants is to use licensing measures to ensure that exports of certain chemicals, biological agents, and dual-use chemical and biological manufacturing facilities and equipment, do not contribute to the spread of Chemical and Biological weapons.
Headquarters:
The Secretariat of Australia Group is situated in RG Casey Building, Canberra, Australia.
India and Australia Group:
India became the 43rd member of the Australia Group on January 19, 2018.