§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times(a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have held meetings with the United States Special Envoy for Cryptography, Ambassador David Aaron, since 1 January 1998, on (i) encryption and (ii) other issues; what were the dates and locations of each meeting; and if any other (a) British and (b) United States Government Departments took part in each meeting. [93865]
§ Ms HewittMinisters have not met with Ambassador Aaron.
Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry, the Cabinet Office and the Government's technical advisers on information security, the Communications Electronic Security Group met Ambassador Aaron on 4 June 1998 in London, on 3 September 1998 in Ottawa and 3 December 1998 in Vienna. On the United States side, the meetings involved officials from the Department of State, Commerce, Justice and Defense, and from the National Security Council. Each of these meetings related to discussions about national and international policies on encryption and possible changes to export controls on cryptographic goods under the Wassenaar Agreement for Export Controls on Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods. Each of these meetings were multinational meetings involving a number of other countries.