PUBLIC STATEMENT

2005 PLENARY MEETING
OF
THE WASSENAAR ARRANGEMENT ON EXPORT CONTROLS FOR

CONVENTIONAL ARMS AND DUAL-USE GOODS AND TECHNOLOGIES

The eleventh Plenary meeting of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA)[1] was held in Vienna, 13-14 December 2005, and was chaired by Ambassador Dorothea Auer (Austria).  The meeting reviewed the accomplishments of the year and considered further export control measures. 

The Plenary welcomed the participation of Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia in the Plenary for the first time, and admitted South Africa as the first African state to join the Arrangement.  The Plenary reiterated that the WA is open, on a global and non-discriminatory basis, to prospective adherents that comply with the agreed criteria, and noted that membership applications would continue to be examined on a case-by-case basis. 

The WA continues to keep pace with advances in technology, market trends and international security developments, such as the threat of terrorist acquisition of military and dual-use goods.  The Plenary agreed to a number of amendments to the control lists, including in relation to items of potential interest to terrorists such as jamming equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Plenary agreed to keep under review other items that could pose a threat if acquired by terrorists.

The WA considered growing international concerns about unregulated “intangible” transfers, such as by oral or electronic means, of software and technology related to conventional weapons and dual-use items. 

In view of the threat posed by terrorist acquisition of man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), the Plenary welcomed practical steps by a number of Participating States in implementing Wassenaar Elements for Export Controls of MANPADS, for example through the destruction of stockpiles of such weapons.  The Plenary especially encouraged Participating States to promote the Wassenaar Elements on MANPADS to non-WA States. 

Following a survey conducted over the past year, the Plenary approved an indicative list of end-use assurances that Participating States commonly require as a condition for export of controlled items.  The Plenary agreed to make the list public via the WA website: www.wassenaar.org 

The WA continues to place a high priority on transparency and outreach to non-Participating States and international organisations, with the aim of promoting the objectives of the Arrangement.  Over the past year, the WA conducted outreach to South Africa and China, and further built upon last year’s Outreach Seminar by focusing on outreach to industry in WA Participating States, where participants recognized the need for greater engagement with industry.  Participating States undertook outreach to other countries in their national capacities.

The Plenary thanked the Chair, Ambassador Dorothea Auer (Austria), for her valuable contributions to the work of the Wassenaar Arrangement in 2005.  The Plenary also thanked Minister Suh Chung-Ha (Republic of Korea) for his chairmanship of the General Working Group, Lt. Col. Lászlò Szatmàri (Hungary) for his leadership of the Experts Group list-review process in 2005, and Ms Lisa Wenger (United States) for her leadership of the Licensing and Enforcement Officers’ Meeting (LEOM) in 2005.  The Plenary extended the appointment of Ambassador Sune Danielsson (Sweden) as Head of the WA Secretariat for a further four years, with the deep gratitude of Participating States for the work of the Ambassador and his staff.

The next regular WA Plenary meeting will take place in Vienna in December 2006.  Ambassador Deborah Stokes (Australia) will assume the Chair of the Plenary on 1 January 2006. 

Vienna, 14 December 2005