Administration Pushing Export Control Rules
Aviation Week & Space Technology
08/18/2008 , page 20
The Bush administration hopes to push through some permanent export control reforms before leaving Washington in January, says John Rood, acting undersecretary of State for arms control and international security. The Senate could vote on whether to adopt agreements designed to ease technology transfer with the U.K. and Australia as soon as September, he says. The treaties will allow contractors to sell products to those two nations and bypass the traditional export control process. The U.K. has some counter-improvised explosive device work that was delayed due to a technology transfer issue with the U.S. In this case, “a 90-day delay is meaningful,” he points out, noting the technology is needed in Iraq. Meanwhile, Bush has directed the State Dept. to process export control licenses within 60 days of receipt. During the past two years, only six requests for tech transfer to the U.K. were denied out of 14,000, Rood added, during his remarks at the 2008 Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Ala. |