As comment window opens, SPIE webinar will advise how to give input on newly proposed revisions in U.S. export control rules
Editors Note: SPIE is making available to the public its slide presentation from the May 12 webinar. This press release has been updated to reflect that.
BELLINGHAM, Washington, and WASHINGTON, D.C., USA -- A comment period was opened today on U.S. export regulations covering a wide range of key photonics technologies -- regulations that some in the industry say are hampering global competitiveness of U.S. industry. To help the community understand and comment, SPIE will host a webinar May 12 on the proposed changes to U.S. Munitions List (USML) Category XII, which governs the commodities covered by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
For the next 60 days, the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDC) is accepting comments on proposed new Category XII rules which govern ITAR.
| 'The reforms will have a direct and lasting impact on industry and our academic community.' |
The rewrite is part of an overarching Export Control Reform (ECR) initiative undertaken by the Administration, explained Jennifer Douris, a lobbyist for SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and a member of the Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee (SITAC) of the Bureau of Industry and Security in the USDC.
Category XII covers many of the optics and photonics commodities and components controlled under ITAR.
The comment process is seen as the best opportunity for exporters, manufacturers, and researchers to influence revisions in regulations that control photonics exports.
"Most of the other categories have already been addressed, but the Administration has saved Category XII for last due to its complexity and importance to both industry and the military," Douris said.
The ECR initiative was launched in 2009 with the expressed purpose of building higher walls around fewer items, she explained. "The reasoning behind this was to allow for better protection of what the military would consider to be its 'crown jewels' while recognizing the economic realities that are important to industry. This approach is meant to strengthen our national security, while improving the competitiveness of U.S. businesses."
"I believe that the ECR revisions to Category XII must allow for future growth of the photonics and optics industry while protecting technologies especially designed for the military," said Jim McNally, chair of the SPIE Engineering, Science, and Technology Policy (ESTeP) committee. "Many of the commodities and components controlled by the USML might more appropriately be placed on the Commerce Control List. The reforms will have a direct and lasting impact on industry and our academic community. I urge all parties to participate in the comment period."
SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs noted that the economic impacts being seen by industry are becoming more serious by the day.
"The stakes are high for our industry," Arthurs said. "Outside of a few major contractors, the Department of Defense does not and cannot invest enough R&D funds to sustain and grow businesses. Federal budget actions have kept R&D funding virtually flat, while market opportunity grows rapidly."
Meanwhile, he said, non-U.S. companies with similar products are selling freely, and using the motto "ITAR-Free" to do so. "Many are prudently investing the resulting revenue back into their companies, feeding the potential for rapid growth" Arthurs said. "This scenario comes at the detriment of the U.S. industry's growth and the high-paying jobs that come with it."
The complete announcement regarding the comment period can be found in the Federal Register here: https://www.federalregister.gov/a/2015-10353.
The slide presentation (available as a PDF) from the May 12 SPIE webinar explains the changes.
Remarks by then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in 2010 provide background on the program and the need for regulation reform.
In addition to hosting the webinar giving guidance on commenting, SPIE has hosted briefings at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco and SPIE DSS in Baltimore to review with community members the proposed changes in detail, including implications for manufacturers, exporters, and research universities.
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