Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Center for International Trade and Security is hosting 10 delegates from the government of Kenya at its Washington, D.C. office this week for a workshop on trade security.
Major General Joseph Nkaisserry (retired), Kenya’s assistant defense minister, is leading the delegation. Ambassador Ochieng Adala, executive director of the Africa Peace Forum, and other senior Kenyan officials involved in strategic trade control issues also are participating in the program.
The CITS workshop centers on strategic trade controls, a system of laws that governments can use to prevent traffickers from illegally moving technology that could be used in weapons of mass destruction through their borders. In addition to discouraging the presence of potentially dangerous technologies and individuals, strategic trade controls benefit nations like Kenya by fostering legitimate, profitable technology trade.
The Export Control and Related Border Security Program, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, is sponsoring the workshop. During the past year, CITS has taught similar workshops to representatives from Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Indonesia, the Caribbean community, Morocco and China. CITS also hosts an academy twice a year that teaches similar principles to larger groups, with approximately 15 countries represented at each session.
CITS is associated with UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs. The center is known for its standard-setting research on nonproliferation and security-the laws, regulations and enforcement arrangements that keep the components of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists and countries of concern.
##
