History

The Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control has its roots in the history of the Federal Office of Economics and the Federal Export Office.

BAFA buildung 1954 – 1975 in Frankfurt am Main Source: © BAFA

Federal Office of Economics´ predecessor was the Central Office of Economics established in 1946 as the central economic administration. After the the economic integration of the British and American occupation zones in summer 1946 , it was refounded under the label of Administrative Office of Economics. The political union follwed in 1947 and the Administrative Office of Economic then became the Administrative Office of the United Economic Territory.

After the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany the tasks related to economic policy were taken over by the Federal Ministry of Economics. The executive tasks remained in the authority that was renamed as Federal Agency for Trade of the Manufacturing Industry in 1951. The Federal Office of Economics was founded in 1954 in Frankfurt. In 1975 its headquarters were relocated to Eschborn, on the outskirts of Frankfurt, as more office space was needed.

The Federal Export Office was founded in Eschborn in 1992 against the background of increasing proliferation risks.

In order to increase efficiency and use synergies , the Federal Office of Economics and the Federal Export Office were joined together by law on 21 December 2000 to form the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control. This merger was part of the Federal Government’s programme “A modern state – a modern administration”.

In 2016 the Auditor Oversight Body (AOB) was formed in Berlin as a part of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control. The AOB is responsible for the supervisory control of the Chamber of Public Accountants, the monitoring of developments in the market for auditing services and it supplies nationally obtained information to other European supervisory bodies.

In 2020 , BAFA opened a branch office in Weißwasser (Upper Lusatia / Saxony) which is primarily concerned with the funding programme for energy efficient buildings and climate protection.

In 2022 another branch office was established in Borna (Saxony) for the implementation of the Supply Chain Act. The new public sector jobs at these branch offices are part of the Federal goverments support for structural change in coal-mining areas and push to open up new opportunities in these regions for sustainable economic activity.

Today, due to it´s broad range of responsibilities the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control is a universal agency in the federal administration.

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