WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US State Department said Wednesday that reforms for military exports to allies are designed to process at least 80,000 licenses a year, reflecting a sharp growth rate in the last five years.
President George W. Bush signed directives Tuesday aimed at accelerating the approvals process for military and other sensitive technology to Britain and other allies without undermining national security, the White House said.
"The demand for export licensing is growing very significantly," John Rood, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, told reporters.
"We expect this year the State Department will process 80,000 licenses. That's nearly 10 percent a year," he said, adding the rate has been sustained since 2003.
Under existing legislation, the State Department enforces controls of defense exports while the Commerce Department enforces them for "dual-use" technology, which can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
Rood had no figures for licenses granted by the Commerce Department.
As part of the overhaul in military and other sensitive technology exports, Rood said the United States has negotiated defense trade treaties with Britain and Australia, its two largest defense trade partners.
Defense trade figures amount to billions of dollars with these partners, he added.
"Those treaties will make a fundamental change in how we conduct defense trade with those countries," he said.
He said the State Department processed 13,000 licenses for Britain in the last two years, with 99.9 percent of applications approved, and some 4,000 for Australia in the same period.
In a statement, the State Department specified that the directives commit "additional financial resources and intelligence support" to ensure a "timely" process for export license applications.
It said "guidelines will be issued that require a decision by the US government on defense trade export license applications within 60 days, absent a strong reason for additional time."
Rood added that the reforms pave the way for a "self-financing mechanism" to ensure there are enough resources to meet demand for license applications.
Matthew Schroeder, arms sales monitoring project manager for the Strategic Security Program at the Federation of American Scientists, had some misgivings about the reforms after attending Rood's briefing.
"We applaud the State Department's attempt to get more resources for the woefully understaffed licensing department," he told AFP.
"But we're concerned that if these resources don't materialize, that the 60-day limit will put pressure on licensing officers that could reduce scrutiny and oversight," he said.
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