Currently the U.S. government has three different agencies
that have been given the authority to issue export licenses. Those three
agencies are: the Departments
of Commerce, State, and the Treasury. In 2009, President Obama ordered an
interagency review of the current export control system. The review found that
the current system was “overly
complicated, contained too many redundancies, and, in trying to protect too
much, diminished the ability to focus their efforts on the most critical
national security priorities”. The review also found that many companies
had to apply for multiple export licenses with each of the departments. Due to
the findings of the review, the Administration created the Export Control
Reform initiative to help establish a single export licensing system.
“The goal of the (ECR)
initiative is to create a Single Licensing Agency (SLA), which would act as a
‘one stop shop’ for businesses seeking export license and for the US government
to coordinate review of license applications.” The ultimate goal of this new
licensing process would be to make the process predictable, timely, and
transparent.
