By Sakura Murakami
(Reuters) – Japan eased its arms export restrictions on Friday, allowing it to export lethal weapons to certain countries, in the pacifist nation’s first major overhaul of such curbs in almost a decade.
The announcement comes as Japan, which had long adopted a stance of not allowing exports of deadly weapons, seeks to boost its defence industry amid an increasingly tense security environment in the Indo-Pacific.
Although Japan’s export controls still prevent it from shipping weapons to countries at war, the revised guidelines allow Tokyo to export completed products to countries where patent holders are based.
Any re-exports to third countries would require permission from Tokyo.
Under the previous rules, Japan could only export components and was prohibited from delivering completed products.
Japan’s ruling party has been mulling changes to the export controls for months, as the rules could stand in the way of shipping next-generation fighter jets in development with Britain and Italy.
(Reporting by Sakura Murakami, additional reporting by John Geddie in Tokyo; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
