Australia Group

The Australia Group is a multilateral export control regime (MECR) and an informal group of countries (now joined by the European Commission) established in 1985 (after the use of chemical weapons by Iraq in 1984) to help member countries to identify those exports which need to be controlled so as not to contribute to the spread of chemical and biological weapons.

[1] The group, initially consisting of 15 members, held its first meeting in Brussels, Belgium, in June 1985.

[2] With the incorporation of India on 19 January 2018, it now has 43 members,[3] including Australia, New Zealand, the European Commission, all 27 member states of the European Union, United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, India, Ukraine, and Argentina.

The initial members of the group had different assessments of which chemical precursors should be subject to export control.

This adherence is unilateral by the non-member country and not subject to any acceptance decision by the AG membership.