In our view, it is vitally important to develop and pass a law on export control, that is generally analogous to existing American legislation on this topic. The law must clearly define the spheres and forms of strategic regulation, including in the area of weapons of mass destruction. It must also divide and assign authorities and functions to the various governmental bodies in the CIS. This will also increase the international standing of our country and make our foreign partners more willing to work with us on resolving rather delicate questions. It would be advisable to publish the export control lists so that they might be used by our manufacturers in their day-to-day export business.

In the international arena, the CIS must engage in active cooperation with the leading countries and declare its willingness to participate as an equal partner in existing multilateral export control mechanisms regarding weapons of mass destruction. This is particularly important in view of the fact that many Western specialists view our country's participation in the multilateral control system for weapons nonproliferation as one condition for easing the export regime on shipments of up-to-date types of equipment to the CIS. It appears that such an initiative on our part would be greeted with satisfaction, since Western nations interested in coordinating their nonproliferation activities with the CIS are currently discussing various ways of improving export controls on weapons of mass destruction. A possible first step might be a declaration of willingness to take part in joint activities to improve the effectiveness of existing export control regimes regarding nuclear, chemical and missile weapons.

We believe that the CIS should support the idea of creating a body under the aegis of the UN Security Council to address the nonproliferation of nuclear missiles and chemical and bacteriological weapons. This body must include an inspection mechanism, as well as an effective means of ensuring compliance. COCOM might be used as the operating arm of this Security Council organ.

Finally, we must remember that the West and particularly the United States will be closely monitoring the actions of the CIS in this area and modifying their own policies in accordance with what they observe. This being the case, an insufficiently responsible approach to the question of strategic regulation will ultimately hinder the integration of our country into the world economy. It is therefore in our interest to study carefully and utilize the experience amassed in similar export regulation efforts in the West in order to strengthen our own control services.