If you are involved in the exportation of merchandise from the United States, then you will want to be more vigilant than ever as the export control reform initiative, which was announced by President Obama last August, begins to unfold in front of us.

 

On April 20, the Obama Administration announced the results of their interagency review of the export control system that included their key recommendations and proposed methodology for implementing the reformed export control system.

 

Currently, the export control system is based upon two distinctly different control lists that are not administered by the same governmental agency, three distinctly different licensing agencies that are not able to review licenses issued by the other two agencies, various governmental agencies and departments that have overlapping and/or duplicative authority, and segmentation of computer systems that contain vital information to the licensing process, which are either not compatible with one another or possess limited compatibility. In addition, some agencies do not have any access to computer systems to obtain information vital to the licensing process.

 

The revised export control system would include the following and would most likely be implemented through a three phase process:

 

The first phase of reform would allow for immediate improvements without the need for Congressional approval. These improvements include refining and harmonizing the control list to eliminate confusion over jurisdiction, streamlining measures to improve the licensing process, standardizing policies and processes applicable to the licensing process, and determining the best way to integrate the various computer database systems utilized today into a single point of contact for exporters.

 

 

The second phase would require Congressional approval and would include the restructuring of the two control lists used today into two identical tiered structures that could be modified as conditions warranted, implementing license harmonization to allow export authorization requirements to become aligned with national security requirements, and beginning the migration toward integrating the various computer database systems.

 

 

The third and final phase would require Congressional approval to merge the two control lists created in Phase II into a single control list with procedures in place to keep the control list relevant. It would also implement a single licensing agency, enforce export regulations through one single governmental agency, and implement a single computer database system for all export activities.

 

Keep an eye on the export control system as changes are coming, and those changes will have a significant impact on the export process you have been accustomed to for so many years