President Obama Announces Additional Steps Toward Export Control Modernization

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Obama presented a series of initiatives at today's meeting of the President's Export Council chaired by W. James McNerney, Jr. of The Boeing Company to speed the progress of export control modernization. McNerney is the chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of the company.

The announcement included the launch of a process to revise the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and Commerce Control List (CCL), along with the results of a first attempt at revising export controls on military vehicles, proposals to eliminate Commerce licensing requirements for low sensitivity, dual-use exports to close partners and allies and establishment of a consolidated list of entities that require extra scrutiny by U.S. companies before exporting.  

"We welcome the administration's continued interest and attention on streamlining and strengthening the U.S. export control process. Having an effective and efficient export control system strengthens our national security and advances American competitiveness across the globe," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO, Boeing Commercial Airplanes and 2011 chairman, AIA.

"Our country's national security, foreign policy and economic interests are best served by a system that provides predictable, efficient and transparent scrutiny and approval of high-technology exports," said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey. "These exports are critical to our nation's economic recovery and the creation of high-skill, high-wage jobs." According to AIA, the aerospace industry exported $81 billion this year.   

For years AIA, the broader high technology community and administration and congressional leaders have raised concerns that the separate lists of technologies requiring export controls maintained by the State and Commerce Departments are overly expansive and ambiguous. The resultant confusion has strained the compliance resources of industry, particularly small business, and the enforcement resources of the U.S. government.

"The current export control system has not changed to meet the needs of our warfighters or kept up with the pace of technological change," said Blakey. "The USML today uses broad criteria that subject essentially commercial technology to the highest level of scrutiny and control. This needlessly delays approvals for exports going to our battlefield allies as well as our closest business partners overseas.  Rationalizing these technology lists will support our national security interests by bolstering our security partners and strengthening the global competitiveness of the U.S. high technology industrial base."

For more information about modernization of the U.S. export control system, visit http://www.aia-aerospace.org/issues_policies/international/.

Founded in 1919, the Aerospace Industries Association represents the nation's leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military, and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aircraft systems, space systems, aircraft engines, missiles, homeland and cybersecurity systems, materiel, related components, equipment services and information technology.

SOURCE Aerospace Industries Association

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