The following practices are authored by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with the help and support of the Governments of Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan and the United States of America.
These practices recognise that proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction has the potential to seriously threaten international peace and security and undermine economic, commercial and social development; and recognise the important role that the diverse commercial sector (exporters, shippers, freight-forwarders, brokers and indeed all those involved in commercial or financial transactions) can play in assisting multilateral efforts in non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. These practices are not legally binding - they are intended to provide a platform from which individual companies may adopt internal practices and are not exhaustive. These practices complement existing legal obligations to comply with national law.