Ø
On
Export Controls
for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies
Ø It is a new multilateral arrangement,
temporarily known as the “New Forum” came into existence on 16 November 1993, at
The Hague, High Level Meeting (HLM). Agreement to establish the “Wassenaar Arrangement” was reached
at the HLM held on 19 December 1995.
Ø It terminated the cold war era control
regime Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export (COCOM) to deal with risks
to regional and international security and stability related to the spread of
conventional weapons and dual-use goods and technologies.
Ø The inaugural Plenary
Meeting of the Wassenaar Arrangement was held 2-3 April 1996 in Vienna,
Austria. All Plenary decisions are taken by consensus.
Ø
There are 42 Participating Nations including India : Argentina, Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania,
Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.
Ø
Participating
States apply export controls to all items set forth in the List of
Dual-Use Goods and Technologies and the Munitions List, with the objective of preventing
unauthorized transfers or re-transfers of those items.
Ø
Munitions
List Contains 22 main entries on items designed for military use, including
certain items within the categories such as (but not limited to):
- Small Arms & Light Weapons (and related ammunition);
- Tanks and other Military Armed Vehicles;
- Armoured/Protective Equipment,
- Aircraft & Unmanned Airborne Vehicles, Aero Engines & related equipment (for comprehensive details please refer to the ‘Munitions List’ on the Wassenaar Arrangement Website).