Wassenaar Arrangement

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office written question – answered at on 19 April 2024.

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Photo of Liam Byrne Liam Byrne Chair, Business and Trade Committee, Chair, Business and Trade Sub-Committee on National Security and Investment, Chair, Business and Trade Sub-Committee on National Security and Investment, Chair, Business and Trade Committee

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Wassenaar Arrangement in controlling the dual-use export of (a) artificial intelligence, (b) quantum computing, (c) biometric tools and data and (d) intangible technology transfers.

Photo of Anne-Marie Trevelyan Anne-Marie Trevelyan Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Wassenaar Arrangement is a long-established multilateral export control regime which operates by consensus. It includes the majority of states producing these advanced technologies and draws on expertise from all members to develop control lists, which are updated annually. These lists are used by participating states to implement their export controls and, as the Wassenaar Arrangement sets the global standard for good practice, non-member states also incorporate the control lists into their domestic legislation.

The UK is an active member of the Wassenaar Arrangement and other multilateral export control regimes. We submit and review proposals related to these advanced technologies, share best practice, and participate in outreach to non-member states. We are co-ordinating with G7 and other partners to strengthen export controls, including to update multilateral export control regime lists to keep pace with rapid technological developments.

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