Users of the State Department’s Defense Export Controls and Compliance System are now limited to five attempts when responding to password recovery questions within the application, the agency said this week. “After the fifth attempt, the account will be locked,” the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said. Users who are unable to access their DECCS account for this reason should contact the DDTC information technology help desk at ddtccustomerservice@state.gov.
House lawmakers are working on legislation they say could lift some of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations’ burdensome technology sharing restrictions, including controls limiting trade with the U.S.’ closest allies. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Tex., said the bill could create an ITAR exemption for technology transfers under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership, among other changes.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will soon expand the types of defense articles and services that can be exported to Australia, the U.K. and Canada, including items and activities involving torpedoes, submarine combat control systems, acoustic countermeasure devices and night vision items. The measures were outlined in a final rule, released April 11 and effective May 12, that will also make “clarifying amendments and conforming updates” to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
The Government Accountability Office should review illegal U.S. firearms exports to the Caribbean, three lawmakers said last week. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., along with Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said they are particularly concerned about illegal trafficking of U.S. weapons to Haiti, adding that America is the “principal source of weapons being used by criminal gangs” on the island.
The State Department is seeking public comments on an information collection related to disclosures of violations of the Arms Export Control Act. Comments are due May 3.
Democrats introduced a bill this week that would build on the Biden administration’s increased emphasis on human rights concerns when adjudicating foreign arms sales. The Safeguarding Human Rights in Arms Exports Act of 2023, introduced in the House by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and in the Senate by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., would codify aspects of the administration's recently revised Conventional Arms Transfer policy and would increase congressional oversight of arms sales.
The State Department this week extended its open general license pilot program for three years, allowing users to continue using the licenses beyond the original July 31 expiration date. The agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said the extension will help it “collect sufficient data to consider the usefulness” of the pilot -- which includes a license each for certain reexports and retransfers -- and will give companies “sufficient certainty” to continue relying on the licenses “without fear that they could expire more quickly than a traditional license.”
The House this week passed a bill that would direct the State Department to report to Congress on export-related issues under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership (see 2303130035). The bill, which passed 393-4, also would require the agency to provide information on the average processing times for defense-related export license applications involving Australia and the U.K., information on voluntary disclosures of ITAR violations, ITAR penalties involving the two countries, and an “assessment of recommended improvements to export control laws.” The legislation is viewed as the first step toward potential revision of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the U.S. defense export regulations that industry experts and others say prevent technology sharing and collaboration with close allies (see 2302170022, 2303170045 and 2303140018).
Five people from Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were charged in two cases at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for violating the Arms Export Control Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, DOJ announced. They allegedly tried to obtain and export U.S. technology to Iran from 2005 to 2013.
U.S. defense export regulations are the “biggest speed bump” and need to be addressed to foster closer technology collaboration between the U.S. and allies, former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said this week. Spencer, speaking at the National Press Club of Australia, said the International Traffic in Arms Regulations “has to be addressed; it will be addressed,” according to a March 20 report from InnovationAus.