Finland holds Plenary Chair of the Wassenaar Arrangement in 2016 

Press release 273/2015
3 December 2015

Finland took over the Plenary Chair of the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement, WA) at its annual plenary meeting in Vienna on 2—3 December. The chairmanship will start on 1 January 2016 and end at the Plenary to be arranged at the end of the year. Ambassador Anu Laamanen, Finland's Permanent Representative to the UN in Vienna, will serve as the Plenary Chair during Finland's chairmanship. 

The Wassenaar Arrangement is a politically binding international export control system, which was established in 1996. Its 20th anniversary will thus be marked in 2016.

The Wassenaar Arrangement's main objective is to ensure that transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods will not lead to destabilising accumulations of arms. Its central forms of cooperation include agreement on control lists, voluntary reporting on defence materiel transfers, and general exchange of information. As many as 41 countries participate in the Wassenaar Arrangement. The Secretary of the WA is located in Vienna and the current Head of Secretariat is Ambassador Philip Griffiths.

Inquiries: Laura Kansikas-Debraise, Director, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 351 504; Anu Konttinen, Counsellor, Embassy of Finland, Vienna, tel. +43 1 535 036 515