The Wassenaar Arrangement held its 28th regular plenary session in Vienna on December 3, 2024. According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s summary, participating states reviewed developments in international security and export controls, with a focus on emerging dual-use technologies. The plenary “noted continued national-level action on quantum computing technologies, following the absence of consensus within the Arrangement.”
During 2022 and 2023, several proposals to add quantum computing controls to the Wassenaar dual-use list had been blocked due to Russian objections. Several member states subsequently adopted unilateral national-level controls, including Spain for quantum computers exceeding certain qubit and error-rate thresholds. By mid-2024, many Wassenaar participating states had begun to harmonize their export controls outside the formal Arrangement process.
Austria hosts the Wassenaar Arrangement Secretariat in Vienna and is one of 42 participating states. While the plenary adopted updated controls on intrusion software and IP-network surveillance systems, quantum computing remained subject to national-level action rather than multilateral consensus.