Hyde issues ?groundbreaking? GAO study on dual-use technology exports

Hyde issues ôgroundbreakingö GAO study on dual-use technology exports    U.S. House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., officially released a congressional watchdog report detailing the Commerce Department's oversight of so-called 'dual-use' technology exports, or items that have both commercial and military applications.
   'This groundbreaking study raises fundamental questions about whether U.S. export controls have become inadequate at a time when the United States faces a growing number of threats to our interests around the world — threats which are becoming more complex precisely because dangerous regimes and terrorist groups are moving up the technology ladder,' Hyde said in a statement Thursday.
   'It also challenges conventional wisdom about the relative burden to U.S. exporters of controls on sensitive dual-use technology,' he added. 'That burden appears to be quite undemanding overall.'
   Hyde also said the report supports his conclusion that something needs to be done to 'eliminate regulatory loopholes permitting unlicensed exports to China for military and intelligence purposes.'
   The Government Accountability Office found that less than 1 percent of exports subject to Commerce regulations were licensed in 2005. The dollar value of unlicensed exports was about $624 billion, while the value of licensed exports was about $1.2 billion, the GAO report noted.
   Items identified under Commerce's jurisdiction were largely exported to Asian countries, such as China, Taiwan and Singapore, and to European countries, such as France and the United Kingdom. The GAO report said top exports by value were aircraft, computers, equipment to make semiconductors, telecommunications equipment and chemicals. The GAO based its analysis on 2005 export data collected from the Census Bureau's Automated Export System.
   In a June 2006 report, the GAO criticized Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security for not using available information to evaluate its existing export controls. The report also said the current BIS system omits certain known terrorist groups from its watch list.
   'The data could aid in determining the economic impact of current regulations and in evaluating whether exporters are complying with regulations,' the latest GAO report said. 'BIS officials told us they periodically use portions of the data for enforcement activities, but currently do not use the data to evaluate the system's effectiveness.'
   BIS recently proposed rules that it hopes would improve controls over certain high-tech exports to China without interrupting legitimate trade. So far, the proposed rule has been widely criticized by many large industry groups.