Green MP wants tighter export rules

Keith Locke

Green MP Keith Locke is calling for tighter control of exports to prevent New Zealand-made goods being used in weapons after revelations the Government is funding an Auckland company whose products go into smart bombs.

Rakon manufactures quartz crystals for United States company Rockwell Collins to use at the heart of Global Positioning System (GPS) units in smart bombs.

Though Rakon -- winner of this year's New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) export awards -- will not confirm it, its technology is likely to have been used in the US invasion of Iraq, a war strongly opposed by the New Zealand Government.

"We've got to tighten up our procedures for preventing the export of equipment for bad military use," Mr Locke said.

There were already procedures to prevent inappropriate exports of weaponry and components but they were insufficient.

"The crystals that are being developed are not specifically for military purposes so there's nothing wrong with them developing that technology, what needs to be controlled is the export of those crystals to be used in weaponry to kill people -- to be part of George Bush's war machine."

Rakon marketing director Darren Robinson told NZPA that Rakon-designed quartz crystals were used for frequency control devices at the heart of GPS technology, in mobile phones, and other electronic equipment.

The technology also went into "smart bombs, and missiles" for the US military, he said.

NZTE approved funding for the company of $59,412 for a Growth Services Application (GSA) in September 2004, for the US and European markets.

NZTE was not helping Rakon with the military side of its business.

The family-run company, last year earned revenue of over $70 million. Ten per cent of Rakon's work is military based.

It enjoys a 60 per cent global market share in crystals for GPS units.

TechNZ is a part of the Government's Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, promoting high-technology companies, and had also given Rakon money -- a Technology for Business Growth (TBG) grant of $351,000 and earlier grants.

Asked if the company invented technology specifically for the US for "smart bomb" missiles, Mr Robinson said it did.

Smart bombs have played a major part in the US "war on terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They are guided by GPS technology to zero in on targets to a specific longitude and latitude.

Asked if the technology was being used in Iraq, Mr Robinson said the company "don't really want to draw attention to where they (the US military) are using it".

"We don't want to become a target," he said.

The Government was opposed to the Iraq conflict, but has been helping rebuild the nation's infrastructure.

New Zealand refused to join the US-led war, as the invasion was not sanctioned by the United Nations.

Prime Minister Helen Clark last month told a Grey Power meeting in Tauranga that the war was "wrong".

Rakon products had slipped through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) "strategic goods" net, which prevents items for military use being exported.

Rakon oscillators and crystals were not on the list, so did not need export permits, MFAT told NZPA.

While Rakon products could be used in military items on the list, export controls did not apply to goods manufactured overseas.

Mr Locke said New Zealand companies needed stronger guidelines requiring them to find out the final destination of products.

"And if that destination is military it should go through the process of checking by the New Zealand government to make sure it isn't being used in weaponry that is distasteful to New Zealanders."

Comment from Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control Marian Hobbs was not immediately available.

- NZPA