26 February 1997
Source:
http://www.bxa.doc.gov/27-.pdf
(814K)
Public Comments on Encryption Items Transferred from
the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List
TECHNICAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
Communicate in Confidence
100 Domino Drive
Concord, MA 01742-2892 USA
508-287-5100 Fax: 508-371-1280
12 Feb 1997
Ms. Nancy Crowe
Regulatory Policy Division
Bureau of Export Administration
Department of Commerce
14th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Room 2705
Washington, D.C. 20230
Re: Encryption Items Transferred From the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List
Dear Ms. Crowe,
As regards the interim rule which provides for the transfer as noted above, there are a couple of issues which could perhaps be clarified and would assist in the transition.
The first is the definition of products which will remain on the U.S. Munitions List, and continue to be controlled by the Department of State, Office of Defense Trade Controls. According to the interim rule, "Encryption Items" subject to the EAR do not include encryption items specifically designed, developed, configured, adapted, or modified for military applications. There may be some confusion around the definition of military equipment. Is military equipment strictly defined as those items which contain U.S. military encryption? Technical Communication Corporation (TCC), among its products, manufactures and exports equipment for military use. Two products in particular are the DSP9000 Series of Radio Ciphering Systems and the DSD72A-SP Military High Speed Encryption Product. These products contain proprietary encryption, not U.S. military encryption. Yet, as the attached product brochures illustrate, they are designed for military use. The interim rule, as written, is not clear regarding such products.
A second concern is the anticipated level of administrative and paperwork burden required under this change. When applying through the State Department there were essentially two methods for obtaining export approval. The predominate method was the Warehouse and Distribution Arrangement. This provided for the shipment of most of TCC's products to most countries in the world. The required administrative tasks were the maintenance of a list of products shipped and their dollar value, forwarding of Shipper's Export Declarations to the Department of State, and the submittal of semiannual reports. Products or countries not covered by the Arrangement were processed with individual permanent license applications. These individual license applications for State were less detailed than those for Commerce and were less stringent in their requirement for support information. State required a copy of the customer purchase order or contract, a clear definition of the end use and user, technical specifications (as provided in product brochures), and the list of freight forwarders used by the company. Commerce requires somewhat more information on the application and can require an additional form for multiple end-users and another form for multiple products shipped under one order. Commerce may also require import/end-user certificates, technical specifications, letters of explanation, and perhaps other documentation. If the intent of the change to Commerce was to reduce the administrative burden when applying for export licenses, the objective may have been missed. Perhaps some of the procedures previously followed by State could be adopted by Commerce to help streamline the process a bit without compromising the intent or integrity of the system.
It is understandable how, in implementing such a major shift in procedure, a number of questions and issues would arise both for the export license applicants as well as though responsible for processing the applications. I look forward to continuing dialogue regarding the above issues as well as the resolution of other issues which may have been raised.
Sincerely,
Walter Kopek
Director of Operations
[Note: TCC comments included 4 pages of TCC's product information on DSP9000 Radio Ciphering System and 4 pages on DSD 72A-SP Military High Speed Encryption.]
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