By Marina Malenic
The Obama administration is committed to overhauling Cold War-era rules on exports and streamlining the system for selling sensitive U.S. technology abroad, a top official said yesterday.
Jim Jones, the President’s National Security Adviser, announced the administration’s plan to create a new agency that will merge export licensing activities at the State and Commerce departments under a board of directors reporting directly to the president.
“There is no national security without economic security,” Jones said during a lunch sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association, a group that lobbies on behalf of the defense and aerospace sector. Jones said the current export-control system was designed for a “bipolar world that no longer exists.”
The new system is expected to create a clear line between military and commercial technologies and would establish a tiered ranking of controls for military technologies. More sensitive military technologies would receive greater scrutiny and tougher controls, while less sensitive technologies would be expedited for transfer to allies.
Many industry officials have criticized the current, decades-old export control regime as overly complex and harmful to U.S. commercial competitiveness (Defense Daily, Jan. 13). Almost one year ago, the administration initiated a comprehensive review of U.S. export controls by an interagency task force.
Jones said yesterday that the administration hopes to garner enough support for the effort in Congress by the end of the year. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), has been working on legislation to completely revise the current Export Administration Act.
Jones echoed Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ goal of placing “higher walls…around fewer, more critical items.” He said there is “unanimous support” throughout the relevant government agencies and departments for the plan.
Key proposed reforms include:
- A single, comprehensive list that will make it clear to U.S. firms which items require licenses for export and which do not.
- A single licensing agency, which will have jurisdiction over both munitions and dual-use items. This agency would reduce current confusion over where and how to submit export- license applications.
- A single enforcement-coordination agency to strengthen enforcement abroad and coordinate with the intelligence community.
- A unified information technology infrastructure housed in a single online location that would receive, process and stage screening for new license applications and end- users.
The administration plans to establish the changes in three phases over the next year, Jones said. First, it will use executive authority to transition to a single list and single licensing agency by establishing criteria for a tiered control list. It will also launch an integrated enforcement center. Next, the transition to a single IT structure, implementation of the tiered control list and “substantial progress” towards a single licensing system would come into play.
And the third phase will be to win congressional backing for the reforms. According to Jones, the administration will need legislation to create the licensing and enforcement coordination agency. He said he hoped legislation could be enacted later this year.
AIA hailed the reform effort.
“One of AIA’s primary reform recommendations to the Obama administration was to move away from a one-size-fits-all regime to a capabilities-focused system that has the flexibility to apply the right level export controls based on an item’s sensitivity,” said AIA President Marion Blakey. “We are delighted that the administration has taken this step, and we encourage Congress to prioritize reforms and provide the legislation needed for implementation.”