Wassenaar Arrangement

The Wassenaar Arrangement is a voluntary multilateral export-control arrangement established in 1996 for conventional arms and goods, software and technologies that can serve both civilian and military purposes. Its central purpose is to promote security and stability by encouraging responsible national controls over sensitive transfers without banning legitimate civilian trade.

Core purpose

The Arrangement seeks to ensure that transfers do not contribute to military capabilities that undermine international security. It promotes transparency, information exchange and greater responsibility in transfers, while seeking to prevent destabilising accumulations and diversion to unauthorized military end uses.

• It complements export-control regimes concerned with weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.
• It is not directed against any particular state and is intended not to obstruct legitimate civil trade.

How the controls work

Participating States maintain common control lists covering dual-use goods and technologies and conventional arms. They exchange information on transfers and denials, but each state decides whether to authorize an export under its own laws and policies.

• The Arrangement is a voluntary, consensus-based export-control regime rather than a treaty-based supranational authority.
• Controls may apply to listed physical goods, software and technology, including intangible transfers of controlled technical knowledge.

Relevance to India and AI-related technologies

India became the 42nd Participating State on 8 December 2017. India implements strategic export controls mainly through the SCOMET framework administered under its foreign-trade regime.

• The Arrangement does not function as a general regulator of artificial intelligence.
• AI-related hardware, software or technology may require export authorization when it falls within an agreed control-list entry, linking AI safeguards to broader controls on sensitive computing and electronic capabilities.