DDTC Expecting More Export Control Collaboration, Saw Drop in Licenses, Official Says
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will see a return to “normal order” under the Biden administration, with a stronger emphasis on export control cooperation with allies and collaboration at multilateral control regimes, said Mike Miller, a senior State Department official. Miller said the agency is “busy” implementing President Joe Biden’s foreign policy objectives and has seen “robust management” from administration officials.
“It's been a very active period of the new administration getting up to speed,” Miller, the deputy assistant secretary for defense trade in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, said during a May 20 Defense Trade Advisory Group meeting. He said the administration has emphasized the “need to reinvigorate and modernize our alliances and partnerships” and reach “positive outcomes” in the defense trade sphere. “That may take on some greater prominence,” he said.
The policies will translate into a “continued effort to facilitate arms transfers to responsible allies and partners” and deny exports to human rights violators. The agency plans to work on those issues at multilateral export control regimes, Miller said, even though some of those regimes need to be modernized. “These regimes are integral to protecting sensitive technology and making the world safer and more predictable,” he said. “At the same time, the U.S. government is mindful of the need for these regimes to keep pace with technological advancements to remain effective and relevant.”
He also said DDTC is committed to working with Congress on “all matters pertaining to arm sales and foreign policy writ large.” Some lawmakers pushed back against the Trump administration's use of an emergency authority last year to send arms to Persian Gulf countries (see 2008110027). “We have committed to a return to normal order,” Miller said.
The State Department last year also announced exemptions and measures to provide relief for companies involved in International Traffic in Arms Regulation-related work as they managed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the agency plans to make its ITAR telework rule permanent (see 2105200061), it will not continue its temporary reduction in registration fees announced in April 2020, Miller said (see 2004240017). But he said DDTC is reviewing its registration fee structure and may propose changes on a “permanent basis” based on comments from industry. “Stay tuned,” Miller said. “We anticipate seeking industry and public feedback in that regard.”
The agency last year also published a rule to transfer export controls over certain firearms, ammunition and other defense items to the Commerce Department (see 2001230041), which led to a decrease in licenses received by DDTC, Miller said. The agency received 28,000 licenses last year compared with 36,000 the previous year, he said, a drop that may also have been partly caused by the pandemic. While the agency dealt with fewer license applications, the ones it received were often “more complex,” Miller said, because many of the less-strict controls were transferred to Commerce. He said the agency’s average licensing processing time was 48 days.
DDTC’s Blue Lantern program -- the agency’s end-use monitoring program -- conducted checks globally “despite the challenges” of the pandemic, Miller added. The agency initiated 272 Blue Lantern checks in more than 70 countries during the 2020 fiscal year, closing out more than 180 cases. Of those, Miller said, 24% were “deemed to be unfavorable,” down from the program’s five-year average of 31%. “Even though it’s a small sample size,” he said, “we're seeing a bit of a rise in effective compliance.”
The agency also received 602 voluntary disclosures during the 2020 fiscal year, with the most common disclosures involving unauthorized exports of defense articles, including technical data. Miller also said the agency received disclosures on illegal exports of defense services, and violations of licensing terms and provisos.