GAO Says Commerce, State Unaware of Impact of Export Control List Reforms
The Departments of Commerce and State should assess the potential impact of export control list reforms on the resource needs of their compliance activities, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released April 23. Commerce and State said they concurred with GAO's recommendation.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
GAO said agencies estimate that Commerce will receive between 16,000 and 30,000 additional license applications as a result of proposed reforms to move less sensitive items from State to Commerce. Agency documents say this step would allow them to focus resources on items most critical to national security and may make compliance easier for exporters because Commerce imposes fewer requirements than State's controls. However, Commerce has not assessed the impact this added responsibility would have on its end-use check resource needs, GAO said.
Some agency officials also suggested potential risks, such as an increased need for more end-use checks and the loss of information from reviewing exports through the licensing process prior to export, the report said. The agencies have not yet assessed the impact of these potential risks on their resource needs, it said.
The State and Defense Departments said April 19 that export controls should be relaxed, see ITT Online Archives [Ref. 12041835].
Further information: Thomas Melito -- 202-512-9601 or melitot@gao.gov.