Wassenaar Participants May Not Meet in Person

The Commerce Department is unsure if Wassenaar Arrangement stakeholders can meet in person this year, after the 2020 plenary was canceled, potentially creating more uncertainty about the group’s next batch of multilateral export control proposals, said Bureau of Industry and Security's Hillary Hess. Wassenaar is “putting in a lot of effort” on holding physical meetings, but the process has been “very difficult,” she told a Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting. “I've heard that they will try to figure out a way to do it virtually or hybrid or something,” said Hess, BIS regulatory policy director: “I have not heard that they were successful in figuring out” in-person meetings. Tuesday's virtual meeting also heard tech industry concerns (see 2106090054).