The White House said Friday it performed two key steps toward reforming the United States’ export control system.
President Barack Obama Friday signed an executive order updating delegated presidential authorities over the administration of certain export and import controls under the Arms Export Control Act of 1976. The White House Friday also notified Congress of the first in a series of changes to the U.S. Munitions List (USML) relating to aircraft and gas turbine engines, which overall will help guide the exporting of certain defense-related technologies.
Obama’s executive order consolidates all brokering of responsibilities with the State Department, eliminates possible “double licensing” requirements and directs the Commerce Department to establish procedures for notifying Congress of approved export licenses for a certain subset of items that are moved, or may move, from the State list to the less-strict Commerce list. The executive order consolidates and delegates to the Secretary of State all statutory responsibility for maintaining registration and licensing requirements for brokering of defense articles and services on either the State or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) lists, both of which control defense articles and services under the Arms Export Control Act.
The executive order also allows the State Department to authorize items that may have moved to the Commerce list and prevent any potential double-licensing requirement. Currently, the State Department licenses entire systems, including any accompanying spare parts, accessories and attachments to defense systems, yet many of these items will be moved to the Commerce list, which may mean that an exporter would need two licenses instead of one. This ensures that prioritization of controls do not add new red tape.
While the executive order directs the Commerce Department to establish procedures for notifying Congress of approved export licenses for a certain subset of items that are moved, or may move, from the State to Commerce list, it also ensures the executive branch will continue to notify Congress of export licenses for those certain items that might not be subject to statutory notification, but still warrant continued transparency and notification to Congress.
The Obama administration notified Congress Thursday of a series of changes to the U.S. Munitions List, as required by Section 38(f) of the Arms Export Control Act. Once the Congressional notification period concludes, these changes to current State Department-administered controls on aircraft and gas turbine engines will be published with an effective date of 180 days after publication. The White House said the remaining USML changes will be published on a rolling basis for the rest of the year.
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) trade organization Friday lauded the Obama administrations’ impeding revisions to the USML, saying this action is a critical first step toward implementation of comprehensive export control reform. AIA has long advocated for these changes.