In July 1996, the United States and 32 other countries approved a new multilateral export
control agreement, the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms
and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies.
The participating states in the Wassenaar Arrangement are:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation,
Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine,
United Kingdom and United States.
Purpose of the Wassenaar Arrangement
The Wassenaar Arrangement has been established in order to contribute to regional
and international security and stability, by promoting transparency and greater responsibility
in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, thus preventing
destabilizing accumulations. Participating States will seek, through their national
policies, to ensure that transfers of these items do not contribute to the development
or enhancement of military capabilities which undermine these goals, and are not
diverted to support such capabilities.
The decision to transfer or deny transfer of any item will be the sole responsibility of each
Participating State. All measures undertaken with respect to the arrangement will be in
accordance with national legislation and policies and will be implemented on the basis
of national discretion. Therefore, for specifics on Export Controls in Participating
States, contact the National Authorities in that country.
Bearings and the Wassenaar Arrangement
High-precision bearings are controlled under the Wassenaar Arrangement as
Restricted Dual-Use Items. In the United States, the Commerce Department
controls exports of these high-precision bearings for national security reasons.
On January 1, 2002, the U.S. Bureau of Export Administration of the U.S. Department
of Commerce implemented a number of changes to the Commerce Control List, which
identifies items subject to Department of Commerce export controls. The revisions
were actually made December 1, 2000, and the U.S. move implements them.
The rule change also revises language to provide a complete or more accurate
description of controls.
December 1, 2000 -- Implemented January 1, 2002
revisions to the Wassenaar List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies
Bearings
Category 2 - Metal Processing
2A001 - amended by revising the tolerance standards for ball bearings and solid roller bearings
described in 2A001.a and 2A002.b. These tolerance standards are revised to add greater
precision
Specifically, in 2A001.a, the following standards,
"ABEC 7, ABEC 7P, ABEC 7T or ISO Standard Class 4, or national equivalents, or better"
are revised to read:
"ISO Tolerance Class 4 (or ANSI/ABMA Std 20 Tolerance Class ABEC 7 or RBEC 7 or other
national equivalents), or better".
In 2A001.b, the following standards
"ABEC 9, ABEC 9P, or ISO Standard Class 2, or national equivalents"
are revised to read:
"ISO 492 Tolerance Class 2 (or ANSI/ABMA Std 20 Tolerance Class ABEC-9 or
RBEC-9, or other national equivalents), or better"
