Export Controls: Need To Clarify Policy and Simplify Administration
Highlights
The Government does not have an effective policymaking structure to reconcile the conflicting goals of export promotion and export control. The decisionmaking apparatus for determining what technology or products should be controlled is unwieldy and time consuming. On top of these problems, the export licensing system is characterized by delay, uncertainty, and lack of accountability. If controls are to be effective, they must be applied by other governments whose firms have similar technologies and products available. However, the Governments associated with the United States in the Export Control Coordinating Committee (COCOM) are disturbed with the slow United States decisionmaking process and what they consider an inflexible United States position on what ought to be controlled.