In November 2012, the GAO issued a report evaluating compliance and enforcement of export control rules for items that do not require a license. These issues were identified as areas of interest by former House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Member Howard Berman; the full report can be found at: Export Controls: Compliance and Enforcement Activities and Congressional Notification Requirements Under Country-Based License Exemptions. [Accessible Text]

In April 2012, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that evaluates how Export Control Reform will affect the U.S. Department of Commerce’s ability to conduct end-use checks on controlled items. The Executive Branch is reviewing the report and factoring it into on-going activities in the reform effort. Read the report: Export Controls – U.S. Agencies Need to Assess Control List Reform’s Impact on Compliance Activities. [Accessible Text]

In March 2012, the GAO released a report regarding enforcement of U.S. export control regulations. The report cited a number of concerns with the current system, but noted that the creation of the Export Enforcement Coordination Center (E2C2) and revisions to both the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and Commerce Control List (CCL) could help export control enforcement efforts. Read the report here: Export Controls – Proposed Reforms Create Opportunities to Address Enforcement Challenges [Accessible Text].

In February 2011 the GAO issued a report on the need for improvements in preventing unauthorized transfers to foreign nationals in the United States. The report does not specifically address the possible impact of the on-going export control reform efforts. Read report: Export Controls – Improvements Needed to Prevent Unauthorized Technology Releases to Foreign Nationals. [Accessible Text]

In February 2011 the GAO issued its updated “High Risk List” that includes how the U.S. Government protects critical technologies as one of its high risk areas. This was first added to the “High Risk List” in 2007. The new report addresses the risks and how the reform effort is addressing them (see pp. 1-2, 107-110 of the report). Read report: High Risk Series – An Update. [Accessible Text]

In November 2010, the GAO issued a report on the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative (ECR), specifically looking at how the proposed ECR reforms addressed findings from previous GAO reports about the U.S. export control system. Read report: Export Controls – Agency Actions and Proposed Reform Initiative May Address Previously Identified Weaknesses, but Challenges Remain. [Accessible Text]

In September 2010, the GAO issued a report identifying the lack of data collection and reporting on defense exports, through either the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program or direct commercial sales. Read report: Defense Exports – Reporting on Exported Articles and Services Needs to Be Improved. [Accessible Text]

In May 2010, the GAO issued a report which examined the export control systems of six U.S. allies-Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The report focused on the extent to which the export control systems in those countries were structurally different from the U.S. The report also looks at how the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaties may impact export controls in the U.S. Read report: Observations on Selected Countries’ Systems and Proposed Treaties [Accessible Text]

In March 2010, a GAO report looked at the errors in collecting data on the total number of goods being exported from the U.S. to Iran. The report also noted the lack of information sharing between the U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Read report: Iran Sanctions – Complete and Timely Licensing Data Needed to Strengthen Enforcement of Export Restrictions. [Accessible Text]