Senior-level conference on export control

From 12 to 16 September, the Senior-Level Conference on Export Control was held at the Shangri-La, Singapore.

The event was organised by Singapore Customs in coordination with the US Department of Commerce, the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program of the US Department of State, the US Department of Energy and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. The conference was attended by more than 200 delegates from the 10 ASEAN countries, the United States, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, the European Union and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. The Vietnamese delegation comprised representatives of the Standing Office of Vietnam’s National Focal Point for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (Standing Office 81)/Ministry of National Defence and the General Department of Vietnam Customs/Ministry of Finance.

Vietnamese delegates in discussion with the US Customs delegation

The Vietnamese delegation in discussion with the US Assistant Secretary of Commerce on issues relating to strategic trade control policy

Vietnamese delegates in discussion with the EU P2P Programme delegation on future cooperation between Standing Office 81 and the EU P2P Programme

The Vietnamese delegation in discussion with representatives of the EXBS Program on future cooperation between Standing Office 81 and EXBS.

At the conference, in the session on sectoral approaches to strategic trade governance, delegates shared updates on national regulations on strategic trade control and dual-use goods related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; the challenges of controlling transfers of new technologies and intangible dual-use technologies; and lessons learned in managing strategic trade and dual-use goods. The conference programme included a session on Women in Strategic Trade, at which women delegates from various countries made presentations and expressed support for gender equality and for strengthening the presence of women in strategic trade governance and the control of dual-use goods. The final session of the conference was the South-East Asia Forum on Export Control (SEAFEC). In the forum, delegates shared information on the implementation of strategic trade control in a rapidly changing and complex global situation and amid emerging non-traditional security challenges. In the forum, the Vietnamese delegate reported on Vietnam’s efforts to implement its international commitments on disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction under the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the international treaties to which Vietnam is a party, and introduced and emphasised that the Government of Vietnam had issued Decree No. 81/2019/ND-CP of 11 November 2019 on countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which established a legal framework to prevent the proliferation of such weapons and its financing.

A Vietnamese delegate speaks during the discussion at the SEAFEC Forum

Participation in the Senior-Level Conference on Strategic Trade Control, with its thematic sessions, gave officials of Vietnamese agencies an opportunity to learn about and draw on the practices of countries in the region and the world in controlling strategic trade and dual-use goods, while also demonstrating Vietnam’s responsibility and determination in countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Centre 81 - Dang Luu