Jeff Bush, Department of Justice, ICE Agent Sammy Cruzcoriano, Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Michael Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, and Amie R. Tanchak, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Defense, Government Conspiracy,Defense Criminal Investigative Service, R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, and Christopher Amato, Special Agent in Charge of the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Southeast Field Office, Revolution in Romania,R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Michael Johnson, Special Agentin Charge, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement; Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations; and Amie R. Tanchak, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Judge Patrick A. White, Judge Patricia A. Seitz, Judge John M. O’Sullivan, Attorney Mark Eiglarsh, Attorney Michael Cohen,C.I.A.,Defende Intelligence Agency,National Intelligence Agency,Department of State,Department of Navy,Interpol,F.B.I., National Security Agency, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Michael Johnson,Traian Bujduveanu,Revolution in Iran,Attorney Robert G. Amsel
KING VISHNU BHAGWANON KA BHAGWAN PARAMATMONKA PARATOMIC PARAMANU KASARVAMANVA...
Gao finds gap in u.s. export controls | arms control association
1. GAO Finds Gap in U.S. Export Controls | Arms Control Association 25/10/2011 16:05
Home About ACA Donate Join Subscribe Contact Us Internships Career Opportunities (4)
Search Printer Friendly Page | E-mail to a Friend | Adjust Text Size:
Arms Control Today Arms Control Today » July/August 2009 » GAO Finds Gap in U.S. Export Controls
Issue Briefs My Account
Fact Sheets Read Arms Control
Threat Assessment Briefs
GAO Finds Gap in U.S. Export Controls Today Digital Edition
Username:*
Reports Emma Ensign
Subject Resources Sensitive dual-use and military technology can be Latest ACA Resources Password:*
easily and legally purchased within the United States
Country Resources
and illegally exported without detection, according to Export Controls
ACA Events a report issued by the Government Accountability Log in
Office (GAO) last month. The Australia Group at a Glance
Press Room (December 31, 2010)
Interviews Using a fictitious front company and false identities, Obama Easing Export Controls on India
ACA: Four
the GAO was able to purchase dual-use technology (December 2010) Decades of
such as electronic sensors often used in improvised Accomplishment
explosive devices, accelerometers used in "smart"
bombs, and gyro chips used for guiding missiles and military aircraft. The GAO was also able to export the Click here to see
technology without detection to a country that it identified only as "a known transshipment point for terrorist highlights - 1971-2010.
organizations and foreign governments attempting to acquire sensitive technology," the GAO's Gregory
Kutz said in congressional testimony June 4. Kutz, managing director for forensic audits and investigations,
was a witness at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and
ACA In The News
Investigations, which had requested the GAO probe.
IAEA Assessment to
Although items such as the ones the GAO purchased are often subject to export restrictions under the Avoid Asserting Iran
Commerce Control List or the Department of State's U.S. Munitions List, they can be legally obtained from Nuke Push
manufacturers and distributors within the United States, often with only a name and a credit card, the report Global Security Newswire
said. According to the report, the items have been and continue to be used against U.S. soldiers in Iraq and October 25, 2011
Afghanistan. Access to that type of sensitive military technology could give terrorists or foreign
governments an advantage in a combat situation against the United States, the report said. U.N. Report Seen
Worsening Fear Over
Dual-use technology refers to technology that has both conventional and military or proliferation uses. Iran Nuclear Plans
Machinery such as a triggered spark gap, for example, can be used as a high-voltage switch for medical Reuters
applications and a detonator for a nuclear weapon, the report said. October 25, 2011
The report cited officials from several government agencies as saying there is no practical way to prevent Signs of big power
such products from leaving the country after they have been purchased by a domestic buyer. The report divisions over Iran
noted that although regulations are in place to prevent improper use of dual-use and military technology, nuclear report
Register for Arms Control these regulations focus on controlling exports rather than on securing domestic sales. Currently, there are Reuters
Association e-mail updates no legal requirements for the sellers of dual-use or military technology to conduct background checks on October 21, 2011
Email: Go
prospective domestic customers.
Beyond Viktor Bout: How
The GAO report highlights "an enormous loophole in the law," Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the to stop the next 'Lord of
oversight subcommittee, said in a statement at the hearing. "The stakes cannot be higher." War'
The Christian Science
According to the report, seven of the 12 types of sensitive dual-use and military items obtained during the Monitor
investigation have previously been the focus of criminal indictments and convictions for violations of export October 19, 2011
control laws. Additionally, a 2008 report by the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute revealed
attempts by North Korea to procure dual-use technology from foreign sources for use in that country's Iran and the Bomb: How
guided missile program. Far Away is Iran from
Producing a Nuclear
Although there are programs in place to educate manufacturers and distributors on common risks Weapon?
associated with the sale of military or dual-use technology, the lack of controls in place to regulate domestic OilPrice.com
sales limits the effectiveness of such programs, the GAO report said. October 18, 2011
The report suggests that restricting domestic sales of dual-use and military items could be key to
U.N. Agency to Air Data
preventing the illegal export of such technology.
on Iranian Nuclear
Seeking a Balance Missile Concerns
Global Security Newswire
Many U.S. companies balk at the prospect of more export controls, arguing that they are obstacles to October 11, 2011
success in the global market. At the confirmation hearing of Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), whose
nomination to be undersecretary of state for arms control and international security was approved by the
Senate June 25, Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) expressed such concerns.
Because "a lot of technological growth is international," companies would suffer if they "are prohibited from
being engaged internationally," he said. Their viability and their "ability to create new technologies to make
us safe" would be "compromised if those companies were to relocate in other countries that don't have the
same restrictions [as the United States] because they have modernized their national security
assessments" that are the basis for export controls, he said at the June 9 Senate Foreign Relations
Committee hearing. He asked Tauscher to "review these programs to make sure that we're not
disadvantaging American companies" but also to avoid any action that would be "inconsistent with our
national security interests, which obviously comes first."
Tauscher said she planned to review U.S. export control policies. She stressed her commitment to
protecting dual-use technology on national security grounds, a stance echoed by the GAO report, which
stated that "ensuring the effective protection of technologies critical to U.S. national security" was now
considered a "high-risk area." However, like Cardin, she noted the need for a balance between commercial
and security interests. U.S. policy, she said, has to find the "sweet spot," at which "we are absolutely
protecting the national security items, but at the same time, we're cognizant that there's a war of markets
for things that can be taken off the list."
The United States, which currently is the leading producer of advanced military and dual-use technology,
has become a primary target for illegal procurement efforts launched by terrorists and foreign governments,
the GAO report said.
http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2009_07-08/GAO Page 1 of 3
2. GAO Finds Gap in U.S. Export Controls | Arms Control Association 25/10/2011 16:05
Speaking at the June 4 hearing, Stupak addressed such concerns, saying he hoped to "discuss ways in
which government and business can work together to ensure that our technological advantage is not used
to jeopardize the safety of our troops, our allies, and our communities here at home."
The issue of illegal retransfers resurfaced later in the month with the June 11 sentencing of Traian
Bujduveanu, a naturalized U.S. citizen, who had been convicted for his role in a conspiracy to export dual-
use aircraft parts illegally to Iran. Bujduveanu, the owner of Orion Aviation, was sentenced to 35 months in
prison for helping to smuggle parts of F-14 fighter jets, Cobra AH-1 attack helicopters, and CH-53A military
helicopters.
The Department of Justice has publicly stated that roughly 43 percent of the more than 145 defendants
charged in 2008 for violating export controls of restricted military and dual-use technology were attempting
to export munitions and other restricted technology to Iran or China.
Click here to comment
on this article.
http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2009_07-08/GAO Page 2 of 3