Pronabens

PRONABENS – National Program for the Integration State-Company en the Area of Sensitive Goods

The wrecking potential of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as well as of its vectors, missiles and unmanned air vehicles, represent a serious threat to international peace and security.

Goods and technology used for the production of WMDs are considered sensitive and therefore, strictly controled by international disarmament and non-proliferation rules and agreements. The utilization of these inputs in civil market application is growing, which characterizes the so-called “dual use” (civil/military).

International trade associated with the use of these goods and technology demands double attention in order to avoid that legitimate transfers (import/export) be misused for the purpose of proliferation of WMDs by countries, organizations, or non-state agents.

Brazil and international agreements of control

Brazil is signatary of the main international rules and agreements established by the countries aligned with disarmament and non-proliferation, among which are the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The country has its own legislation for the control of export of sensitive goods and technology and services related to these goods, as well as items of dual use, the implementation of which is competence of the Interministerial Committee for the Control of Sensitive Goods (CIBES) and the Interministerial Committee for the Implementation of the Directives of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CIAD-CWC).

The commercialization of sensitive goods requires the attention to a series of demands by Brazilian companies, in order to obtain the consent of the federal government, through CIBES. The Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) acts with CIBES in the capacity of advising agency to the Executive Secretariat, performed by the General-Coordination of Sensitive Goods of the Ministry of Science and Technology (CGBE/MCT).

Pronabens and the participation of State Intelligence

The role of the Brazilian State Intelligence is donned with responsibilities, mainly in the prevention and surveillance of illicit transfers. The State-Company National Integration Program in the Area of Sensitive Goods (Pronabens) was created with the objective of guiding the businesspeople about governmental controls for the transfer of sensitive goods and directly related services.

With Pronabens, the Brazilian State Intelligence, adapted to the contemporary reality, acts in an effective and modern way, contributing to the advancement of Brazil in areas of special strategic interest for state and private sectors. The means to this end is the building of partnerships based in objective, transparent, and professional principles, with concrete results for both segments.

As a consequence of the implementation of Pronabens, Brazil became one of the first countries to fulfill the “8d” directive of Resolution number 1540/2004 of the United Nations Security Council, which exhorts countries to create mechanisms to guide industry and public about trade restrictions of sensitive goods. Within the Program, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT) and ABIN act together with companies established in Brazil, allowing the generation of employment and income, safeguarding the strategic interests of the country and allowing trading in a market of high sensibility, competitiveness and profitability.