Foreign trade law regulates economic transactions with foreign countries. It pursues economic, foreign and security policy goals and thus serves to enforce overriding national interests against the interests of traders. These economic and fiscal interests of the state, the EU or the UN, cultural, political, and military interests, especially the interest in the controllability and limitation of dangerous weapons (control of ABC weapons), override and restrict private law. International export control regimes are the Australia Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MCTR), the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Zangger Committee. Legal norms in this regard can be found in European Union law on the basis of the European Union’s exclusive competence to control foreign trade (cf. Art. 207 TFEU), e.g. in the Defence Equipment Directive, the so-called Dual-Use Regulation, the so-called Anti-Torture Regulation and the Kimberley Regulation. Further regulations can be found in the German Act on the Implementation of the Common Market Organisation (MOG) for the import and export of market regulation goods, in the German War Weapons Control Act (KWKG), in the German Implementing Act to the Chemical Convention (CWÜAG) as well as in the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act (AWG) and the German Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV). The Foreign Trade Criminal Law is a sub-area of foreign trade law that provides for sanctions for certain violations (e.g. export, import, transit, transfer, sale, acquisition, delivery, provision, transfer and disposal prohibitions) in foreign trade law. The law provides for such sanctions, for example, in the case of violations of arms embargoes (Section 17 AWG) as well as violations of other export or import bans. Significant criminal provisions are regulated for intentional offences in accordance with Sections 17 and 18 AWG, and regulatory offences for (predominantly negligent) violations in Section 19 AWG.
