Is a speech to the Business Executives for National Security on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates outlined plans to streamline export controls on sensitive military technologies.
A fact sheet from the White House states that export control reform is necessary “in order to enhance U.S. national security and strengthen our ability to counter threats such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” The current export control structure dates back to the Cold War, and is based on two different controls lists managed by a bureaucratic network and IT systems that are not connected, and thus do not communicate with each other.
In his speech, Gates outline four specific changes to the current export control system:
First, a single export-control list will make it clear to U.S. companies which items require licenses for export and which do not. This single list, combined with a single licensing agency, would allow us to concentrate on controlling those critical technologies and items, the “Crown Jewels” that are the basis for maintaining our military technology advantage, especially technologies and items that no foreign government or company can duplicate. Items that have no significant military impact, or that use widely available technology, could be approved for export quickly. We envision a more dynamic, tiered control system where an item or technology would be “cascaded” from a higher to a lower level of control as its sensitivity decreases.
Second, a single licensing agency, which will have jurisdiction over both munitions and dual-use items and technologies, will streamline the review process and ensure that export decisions are consistent and made based on the real capabilities of the technology. This agency would also reduce exporters’ current confusion over where and how to submit export-license applications, as well as which technologies and items are likely to be approved. The administration is currently preparing options for the agency’s location, and I anticipate a presidential decision later this spring.
Third, the coordination of our currently dispersed enforcement resources by one agency will do a great deal to strengthen enforcement, particularly abroad, as well as coordination with the intelligence community. Those who endanger our troops and compromise our national security will not be able to hide behind jurisdictional uncertainties or game the system. Violators will be subject to thorough investigation, prosecution, and punishment severe enough to deter lawbreaking.
Fourth, a single, unified IT infrastructure will reduce the redundancies, incompatibilities, and waste of taxpayer money that our current system of multiple databases produces. For example, a single online location and database would receive, process, and help screen new license applications and end-users.
Read the full text of Gates speech, and the White House Fact Sheet on the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative
