PUBLIC STATEMENT 2002 PLENARY OF THE WASSENAAR ARRANGEMENT ON EXPORT CONTROLS FOR CONVENTIONAL ARMS AND DUAL-USE GOODS AND TECHNOLOGIES

The eighth Plenary meeting of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) ⁽¹⁾ was held in Vienna, 11-12 December 2002, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Volodymyr Ohryzko (Ukraine).

Participating States agreed on several significant initiatives to combat terrorism, building on the counter-terrorism commitments agreed at the 2001 Plenary. They intensified their ongoing co-operation to prevent the acquisition of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies by terrorist groups and organisations, as well as by individual terrorists. To this end, they developed new means for sharing information and for implementing concrete actions to strengthen export controls over these items. In their review of the lists of items subject to export controls, Participating States paid particular attention to the terrorism threat, introducing new controls for this purpose. A number of additional proposals aimed at strengthening export controls as part of the fight against terrorism and against illicit transfers were made. In this context, Participating States also agreed to review existing WA guidelines regarding Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) to assess the adequacy of these guidelines in preventing terrorist use of such systems.

Participating States agreed on a major new initiative on small arms and light weapons (SALW) – weapons of choice for terrorists. They adopted a document setting out detailed "best practice" guidelines and criteria for exports of SALW. They also agreed to study the adoption of the sub-categories of SALW used in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe as a basis for reporting of SALW within the Wassenaar Arrangement. The Plenary reaffirmed the importance of responsible export policies towards, and effective export controls over, SALW in order to prevent uncontrolled proliferation, destabilising accumulations and diversion.

Participating States recognised the positive work done during the year to make the Information Exchange more efficient. They expressed concern about illicit arms flows to zones of conflict and areas covered by UN Security Council embargoes, as well as licit transfers to zones of conflict from states not participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement. They stressed their commitment to support, by all appropriate means, the efforts of the Security Council to prevent illegal arms transfers to terrorist groups and to all governments and groups under Security Council embargoes.

Recognising the importance of controlling arms brokering, Participating States adopted a Statement of Understanding on this subject. They agreed to continue elaborating and refining the criteria for effective legislation on arms brokering, and to continue discussion of enforcement measures, for the purpose of developing a Wassenaar policy on arms brokering.

Participating States considered measures on possible implementation of a catch-all ⁽²⁾ provision and a denial consultation mechanism. They agreed to include an additional sub-category of military items in mandatory reporting of transfers/licenses granted under Appendix 3 of the Initial Elements (revision available shortly on this website).

In order to keep pace with advances in technology and developments in the international security situation, the Plenary emphasised the importance of the timely updating of the control lists and agreed a number of amendments, including strengthened controls on radiation hardened integrated circuits, which will be published shortly (on this website).

At the same time, Participating States, in their review of the control lists, sought to take into account other developments, including wide availability and diversity of suppliers. A significant degree of relaxation of export control was introduced for digital computers, for example, along with the decontrol of general-purpose microprocessors. Participating States also worked to make the existing control text more easily understood and more ‘user-friendly’ for commercial exporters and licensing authorities.

Participating States agreed to develop contacts with non-Wassenaar members, including major arms producing countries. Participating States again confirmed that the Wassenaar Arrangement is open, on a global and non-discriminatory basis, to prospective adherents that comply with established criteria for participation, and agreed to develop further contacts with the UN and other relevant international organisations and other non-proliferation regimes to avoid duplication of work and to facilitate complementarity.

Participating States will carry out next year the scheduled wide-ranging review ("Assessment") of the functioning of the Arrangement. This will be the second such review in Wassenaar's history.

Members of the Plenary thanked Ambassador Ohryzko for his major contribution as Plenary Chairman to the work of the Wassenaar Arrangement. They also welcomed the new Head of Secretariat, Ambassador Sune Danielsson, to his first Plenary.

The next regular WA Plenary meeting is to be held in Vienna in December 2003. Ambassador Kenneth C. Brill (United States) will assume the Plenary Chairmanship on 1 January 2003.

Vienna, 12 December 2002

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footnotes

( 1 ) The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies was established in July 1996 by 33 Participating States on the basis of the Initial Elements. Meetings are normally held in Vienna, Austria, where the Arrangement is based. The Participating States of the Wassenaar Arrangement are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.

( 2 ) under which Participating States, as a matter of national policy, would require licensing/authorisation for transfers of non-listed items, under nationally or multilaterally specified circumstances, to certain destinations when the items are intended for a military end use.

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