November 2, 2006, Pacifica, CA--Culminating a five-year effort begun by LEOMA in 2001, the 40 nations that are party to the Wassenaar Arrangement agreed in September to the first complete overhaul of laser export controls since 1990. The Wassenaar Plenary is expected to meet in December in Vienna and give the new regulations formal approval, after which they will be integrated into the legal code of all Wassenaar nations, including the United States.
The export of lasers is controlled because lasers have both civilian and military applications, and the Wassenaar nations recognize the need to place limits on the global commerce of such "dual-use" items. Laser manufacturers who sell their products outside the country of origin are required by law in their respective countries to observe the controls set by the Wassenaar Arrangement.
While the old export controls were based on the laser technology involved in generating laser light, the new controls are based on the parameters of the laser beam itself. In other words, the new regulations control "what comes out of the box, rather than what's in the box." The new controls also remove ambiguities and outdated regulations involving fiber lasers, nonlinear optics, and heavy industrial lasers.
LEOMA's executive director, Breck Hitz, has represented the U.S. laser industry at the Wassenaar negotiations in Vienna during the past three years. For more information, please contact Hitz at [email protected].