Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional
Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies 
Fact Sheet Released by the Bureau of Nonproliferation 
March 22, 2000, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Department of State 



The Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) is the first global, multilateral arrangement covering both
conventional weapons and sensitive dual-use goods and technologies. It succeeds COCOM, which
was disbanded in 1994 after it became apparent that the Cold War's East-West export controls no
longer were appropriate. The Gulf War however, showed that some global export controls still were
needed and the Arrangement has significantly different goals and objectives than did COCOM. The
Wassenaar Arrangement received final approval by 33 co-founding countries in July 1996, and
began operations in September 1996.

The WA was designed to prevent destabilizing accumulations of arms and dual-use goods and
technologies. The Arrangement encourages transparency, consultation and, where appropriate,
national policies of restraint. In doing so, the WA fosters greater responsibility and accountability in
transfers of arms and dual use goods and technologies. The Arrangement also provides a venue in
which governments can consider collectively the implications of various transfers on their international
and regional security interests. This is the principal security benefit of membership.

WA members maintain export controls on the WA Munitions and Dual Use lists. These lists
regularly are reviewed by experts of the Participating States and revised as needed. However, the
decision to transfer or deny any controlled item remains the responsibility of individual member
states. There are not, as there were in COCOM, case-by-case prior reviews of proposed exports
to proscribed destinations, or vetoes on proposed exports. To facilitate meeting the WA's principal
objective of preventing destabilizing accumulations, members report on their decisions to transfer or
deny to non-members certain classes of weapons and dual-use technologies. Again unlike
COCOM, Wassenaar members may undercut each other's denials.

In order to enhance transparency in arms transfers, Wassenaar members report semiannually
on deliveries to non-members of weapons in categories derived from the UN Register of
Conventional Arms.

In order to promote transparency and like-mindedness, Wassenaar members also report on
their transfers to non-members of dual use goods. The Wassenaar Dual Use List comprises a Basic
List of controlled technology, on which members semiannually report aggregated license denials. The
Basic List is subdivided into a Sensitive List of technologies on which members report individual
denials of licenses within 30-60 days. In addition to these individual denials, members also report
semiannually aggregated numbers of licenses issued or transfers made. Finally, the Sensitive List is
further subdivided into a Very Sensitive List, consisting of technology subject to extreme vigilance in
national licensing decisions.

Although no country is an explicit target of the WA, members are committed to dealing firmly
with states whose behavior is a cause for serious concern. There is broad agreement that these states
presently are Iran, Iraq, Libya and North Korea. Wassenaar members deal with these "countries of
concern" by preventing, through shared national policies of restraint, their acquisition of armaments
and sensitive dual use goods and technologies for military end-use.

Wassenaar also provides a forum for discussing security and conventional weapons
nonproliferation issues that do not fall within one of the other, more established nonproliferation
regimes. Among other topics, Wassenaar has addressed Sudan, North Korea's weapons production
programs Iran's conventional arms procurement objectives, arms flows to areas of conflict in Africa,
and the situation in Kosovo. At the December 1996 Plenary meeting, members issued a public
statement confirming that they do not transfer arms or ammunition to Afghanistan. In 1997, they
indicated that they would exercise maximum restraint regarding arms transfers to Central Africa.
Members discussed Small Arms/Light Weapons and man-portable Surface-to-Air missiles
(MANPADS) in 1999, with a view to developing common export guidelines for the latter. At the
1999 Plenary meeting, members also agreed to increase their reporting of conventional weapons.

In 2000 the U.S. will continue its efforts to develop MANPADS guidelines and strengthen
dual-use reporting, and will begin discussions of an International Arms Sales Code of Conduct.

WA meetings are held in Vienna, where the Arrangement has established a small secretariat.
Plenary meetings are held at least once a year. The Plenary has established a General Working
Group, an Expert Group, and a Licensing and Enforcement Officers subgroup, which meet
periodically.

The 33 Wassenaar Arrangement members 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
Russia
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States


WASSENAAR ARRANGEMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENTS ARMS



ARMS

Semiannual reporting on deliveries to non-members of conventional weapons in the following
categories:

Battle Tanks 
Armored Combat Vehicles 
Large Calibre Artillery Systems 
Military Aircraft/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 
Military and Attack Helicopters 
Warships 
Missiles or Missile Systems 

DUAL USE GOODS AND TECHNOLOGY

TIER ONE Basic List of Dual Use Goods and Technologies

Notification of Aggregated License Denials, Semiannually

TIER TWO Sensitive List

Notification of Individual License Denials, Within 30-60 Days 
Also Semiannual Notification of Aggregated Licenses Issued or Transfers Made 

SUBSET OF TIER TWO Very Sensitive List

Transfer Decisions Subject To Extreme Vigilance by Exporting Government 
Reporting Requirements Same as Tier Two 

[Bureau of Nonproliferation, Department of State Website, http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/bureaunp.html.]