The system of sanctions for the illicit trade of nuclear goods

In the area of nuclear non proliferation, the illicit trade of goods that could be used to create nuclear weapons cannot be neglected. Indeed, many States and non-States actors seeking nuclear weapons or wanting to maintain existing nuclear weapons arsenals or capabilities look for obtaining, acquiring and transporting in their own States or locations dual-use technologies, items and materials. This entails a chain of “actors”: (a) the suppliers of goods, (b) a procurement organization, (c) a trade company for the procurement of goods, (d) intermediaries in transport, and (e) banks which could finance the operations. Therefore, a set of measures for preventing the illicit trade, and for sanctioning the occurred one, need to be defined.
The paper aims at focusing on the “sanctioning” phase for illicit trade of dual-use nuclear items. It analyses the set of sanctions established at the international and European Union level, precisely the economic sanctions (e.g.: embargos), the financial one (i.e., freezing of assets), the visa and travel bans, and the limitations on transport of goods (i.e., export/import restrictions), by considering the legal texts adopted in the international and European Union framework, according to a comparative analysis.