Wassenaar Arrangement

26th annual plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement in Vienna, Ireland handed over the chairmanship to India and India will officially assume the chairmanship from 1st January, 2023.The Wassenaar Arrangement is a voluntary export control regime. The Arrangement, formally established in July 1996, has 42 members who exchange information on transfers of conventional weapons and dual-use goods and technologies.Dual-use refers to the ability of a good or technology to be used for multiple purposes – usually peaceful and military.Wassenaar Arrangement’s Secretariat is in Vienna, Austria.

Members

• It has 42 member states comprising mostly NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and EU states.
• Participating States are required to report their arms transfers and transfers/denials of certain dual-use goods and technologies to destinations outside the Arrangement on a six-monthly basis.
• India became a member of the Arrangement in 2017.

Objectives

• The group works by regularly exchanging information in respect of technology, both conventional and nuclear-capable, that is sold to, or denied to countries outside the grouping.
• This is done through maintenance and updating of detailed lists of chemicals, technologies, processes and products that are considered militarily significant.
• It aims at controlling the movement of technology, material or components to countries or entities which undermine international security and stability.
• Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary: It is the decision-making body of the Arrangement.
• It is composed of representatives of all Participating States and normally meets once a year, usually in December.
• The position of Plenary Chair is subject to annual rotation among Participating States.
• In 2018 the Plenary Chair was held by the United Kingdom, and in 2019 the Chair is held by Greece.
• All Plenary decisions are taken by consensus.

Chairmanship Significant for India

• The timing of India’s WA chairmanship coincides with a recent increase in country’s anti-terrorism position in international bodies.
• India is also actively engaging global stakeholders in curbing terrorist financing.
• Indian home minister is presently the chair of the No Money for Terrorism (NMFT) ministerial initiative.