Wassenaar Agreement

On May 20, the Office of Industry and Security (BIS) proposed to the U.S. Government the implementation of the agreements reached at the December 2013 plenary session by Ambassador Sune Danielsson, Head of the Secretariat Telephone: (43-1) 960 03 Fax: (43-1) 960 031 or 032 E-mail: [email protected] Website: documents www.wassenaar.org Documents Primary documents, including treaty texts and related memoranda, Declarations and other related documents. The purpose of these changes was to prevent Western tech companies from selling surveillance technologies to governments known to violate human rights. However, some tech companies have expressed concerns that the scope of controls could be too broad, limiting the ability of security researchers to identify and remediate security vulnerabilities. Google and Facebook have criticized the deal for the restrictions it imposes on activities such as penetration testing, sharing threat information and bug bounty programs. [6] [7] They argue that the restrictions will weaken the security of participating countries and will do little to curb threats from non-participating countries. [8] [9] The twelfth plenary session on 5 and 6 December in Vienna marked the tenth anniversary of the AO and was chaired by Ambassador Peter Shannon of Australia. The plenary successfully agreed on a number of changes to the checklists, while expressing the wish to establish a dialogue with the AO Panel of Experts and the Missile Technology Control Regime in order to improve the regime`s ability to keep pace with technological advances, market trends and international security developments. In addition, the plenary decided to make available to the public two best practice documents – Best practices for the implementation of intangible technology transfer controls and guidelines on best practices for licensing items on the basic list and the sensitive list of dual-use items and technologies – in order to complement the plenary`s agreement to continue to give high priority to transparency and contacts with non-participating States and international organizations. strengthen export controls. The Wassenaar arrangement is based on a political agreement. It is not directed against any country or region.

Currently, 42 States participate in the Wassenaar Arrangement. It succeeded the Cold War-era Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM) and was established on 12 July 1996 in Wassenaar, the Netherlands, near The Hague. .