Export Controls

The head of the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security recently expressed hope that the Obama administration will publish by the end of the year the next two proposed rules in its export control reform initiative, covering toxins and guidance equipment such as night-vision goggles, Inside U.S. Trade reports this week:

Speaking to reporters at the bureau's annual Update Conference on July 29, BIS Undersecretary Eric Hirschhorn acknowledged that revising these two categories will "not be easy," which is why the administration first moved ahead with less difficult categories in its export control reform.

The reform effort involves moving items from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to the less stringent controls of the Commerce Control List (CCL). The two upcoming rules would involve USML Categories XII and XIV, which cover guidance equipment and toxicological agents, respectively.

BIS officials have previously said the toxins category is difficult because it involves getting input from government scientists, who are not usually involved in export control debates. Private-sector sources have said Category XII will be difficult in part because the Department of Defense will likely take a hard line on protecting night vision equipment, which it views as vital to the strategic capabilities of the U.S. military.

But Hirschhorn expressed confidence that the agencies involved in the reform would ultimately be able to come to an agreement on these two categories. "I have a pretty high level of confidence both that [on the night-vision goggles] category and the toxins category … we'll reach a very sensible resolution for both, and I hope they will be published both before the end of the year," he said.

Inside the Pentagon reported last month that the Commerce Department has processed more than $900 million worth of exports that have been deregulated off the State Department's Munitions List since Oct. 15, 2013.

Additionally, the State and Commerce Departments are working on rules to ease restrictions on the export of sensors, night vision items, biological items and toxins, ITP reported:

Export reform "addresses today's national security threats and opportunities," said Eric Hirschhorn, undersecretary for industry and security at the Commerce Department, in a National Defense Industry Association webinar.

"Reform of the system will focus our limited resources within the government on the threats that matter the most, improve our interoperability with our closest friends and allies, strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base by reducing incentives for foreign manufacturers to design-out controlled U.S. origin parts and components and finally ease the licensing burden on U.S. exports," he said.

President Obama announced the Export Control Reform Initiative in 2009 to ease restrictions on military items that had been needlessly held to Cold War regulation standards. The plan moves items from the strict U.S. Munitions List to the more relaxed Commerce Control List.

So far, the Bureau of Industry and Security has processed more than 5,000 munitions licenses. The president's initiative aims to move 21 categories from the Munitions List. The categories represent about $80 billion in annual exports and close to 90 percent of the total value of American exports governed by licenses.