Media Release

FA55 - 28 May 2003

Iraq (Reconstruction and Repeal of Sanctions) Regulations

The Government has today made regulations implementing Security Council Resolution 1483 on transitional arrangements for post-conflict Iraq. The Iraq (Reconstruction and Repeal of Sanctions) Regulations will commence upon gazettal on Thursday 29 May 2003.

The Regulations remove Australia's domestic measures imposing restrictions on trade with Iraq. Restrictions will only be maintained in relation to trade in arms and related materiel. The Security Council's decision to lift sanctions lays the foundations for Iraq's reintegration into the global marketplace. As governance and institutions consolidate, Iraq will begin to recover its economic potential. The Government's early passage of these regulations will enable Australian companies to re-engage with a market that promises to become one of the most dynamic in the Middle Eastern region.

The new Regulations will also contribute to other measures the Government has taken to help restore Iraq's cultural patrimony following the devastating looting of Iraq's National Museum and Library. They make it an offence for persons in Australia or Australians overseas to trade in items of Iraq's moveable cultural heritage that were illegally removed from Iraq after 2 August 1990. The Regulations also require persons in Australia or Australians overseas who may be in possession of such items to hand them over to appropriate authorities. In Australia, these authorities are the Australian Federal Police or a member of a State or Territory police force.

The new Regulations provide for the return to Iraq of financial resources belonging to the former regime. This is an important measure prescribed by the Security Council to retrieve the enormous sums of money removed from Iraq by Saddam Hussein and other senior members of his regime and their families, as well as other assets of the regime located overseas, for use in the reconstruction of Iraq. Under the Regulations, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is empowered to make arrangements for the transfer of such financial resources to the Development Fund for Iraq established by Security Council Resolution 1483 and located the within the Iraqi Central Bank. The Regulations make it an offence for a person in Australia or an Australian overseas who holds such financial resources to use or deal with them other than in accordance with instructions from the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Any person or institution that holds financial resources described in this paragraph should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Media inquiries: Chris Kenny (Ministerial) +61 02 6277 7500 / Julie McDonald (Departmental) 02 6261 1555