Decrying the existing system of regulating the export of potentially sensitive materials and technologies from the U.S. as “byzantine” and outmoded, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates outlined the Obama administration’s plan to scrap it. Instead, businesses would be able to apply for export licenses from one single government entity, still to be determined. Among other details Gates provided during an April 20 speech before the Business Executives for National Security in Washington, D.C., are the creation of a single list of restricted export items, a single law-enforcement agency responsible for export-related investigations, and a single information technology infrastructure to serve as a clearinghouse for applications. While the administration intends to begin implementing the changes later this spring, restructuring of existing bureaucracies would require congressional approval and take longer to establish. The Defense Department is taking the lead in the administration efforts, a DoD spokesman said, because the matter is considered one of national security rather than trade.
