State Dept. Progressing on General License Concept, Compliance Program Guidelines, Official Says
The State Department is “finalizing” discussions with several trading partners on its new open general license concept for certain defense exports, senior agency official Mike Miller. The concept, which could begin as a pilot program, would allow U.S. exports to certain U.S. trading partners without having to apply for a specific license (see 2109290056).
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The State Department has worked closely with DOD and the Commerce Department on the concept, Miller said during an April 28 Defense Trade Advisory Group meeting. He said the agency is finalizing discussions with the U.K., Australia and Canada “regarding the details and scope of that arrangement.”
The agency is also close to completing several other defense trade initiatives, Miller said, including publishing a new set of compliance program guidelines. The agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls began working on the guidelines at the request of the DTAG, and the document is “working its way through the internal clearance process,” said Miller, the deputy assistant secretary for defense trade in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. He said the agency hopes to publish the guidelines this summer.
Exporters also should look out for the Biden administration’s revision to the U.S.’s conventional arms transfer policies, which Miller said is in the “the final stages of review.” The administration hopes the new policies place more of an emphasis on human rights concerns while helping to remove foreign barriers to U.S. defense exporters (see 2111040056).
The agency also is continuing to review the U.S. Munitions List to “make sure it evolves as technology changes,” Miller said, and is working on proposed rules for technologies that cover missiles, launch vehicles, spacecraft and nuclear weapons. “That review of our control list has sharpened and narrowed the list of items that we control on the USML” to those that “give us a critical military intelligence advantage,” Miller said.
Officials are also working on several consent agreements stemming from export violations that they hope to publish in the “coming weeks and months,” Miller said. The agency is coming off a year in which it received 580 voluntary disclosures and initiated 58 directed disclosures, Miller said, which was a “significant increase’ from 2020. Miller said during a 2021 DTAG meeting that the agency initiated 38 directed disclosures in 2020.
The agency has also been busy processing export applications for Ukraine. Miller said officials have “been able to turn around export and reexport requests with great speed,” in “many cases” less than 24 hours. The agency has authorized about $300 million in direct commercial sales exports to Ukraine since January, Miller said, adding the number would be higher if it included brokering requests.
But Miller also said some exporters are looking to take advantage of the agency’s expedited review policy for exports to Ukraine by submitting “insufficient” applications. “While we're certainly expediting reviews, that doesn't mean that we're forgoing the need to have accurate and complete information to approve commercial exports,” Miller said. “We continue to ask the exporting and brokering community to do their due diligence, particularly regarding the parties listed on your authorization requests.”
Several DTAG members also made presentations to DDTC, including one working group that suggested recommending a new exemption for returns and repairs of defense articles to foreign original equipment manufacturers. Another working group suggested clarifying and correcting certain definitions in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and a third working group presented on ITAR-related challenges for controlled unclassified information.