[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 236 (Friday, December 8, 1995)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 62981-62985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30106]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 236 / Friday, December 8, 1995 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 62981]]
Executive Order 12981 of December 5, 1995
Administration of Export Controls
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including but not limited to the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et. seq.)
(``the Act''), and in order to take additional steps
with respect to the national emergency described and
declared in Executive Order No. 12924 of August 19,
1994, and continued on August 15, 1995, I, WILLIAM J.
CLINTON, President of the United States of America,
find that it is necessary for the procedures set forth
below to apply to export license applications submitted
under the Act and the Export Administration Regulations
(15 C.F.R. Part 730 et. seq.) (``the Regulations'') or
under any renewal of, or successor to, the Export
Administration Act of 1979, as amended (50 U.S.C. App.
2401 et. seq.) (``the Export Administration Act''), and
the Regulations. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. License Review. To the extent permitted by
law and consistent with Executive Order No. 12924 of
August 19, 1994, the power, authority, and discretion
conferred upon the Secretary of Commerce (``the
Secretary'') under the Export Administration Act to
require, review, and make final determinations with
regard to export licenses, documentation, and other
forms of information submitted to the Department of
Commerce pursuant to the Act and the Regulations or
under any renewal of, or successor to, the Export
Administration Act and the Regulations, with the power
of successive redelegation, shall continue. The
Departments of State, Defense, and Energy, and the Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency each shall have the
authority to review any export license application
submitted to the Department of Commerce pursuant to the
Act and the Regulations or under any renewal of, or
successor to, the Export Administration Act and the
Regulations. The Secretary may refer license
applications to other United States Government
departments or agencies for review as appropriate. In
the event that a department or agency determines that
certain types of applications need not be referred to
it, such department or agency shall notify the
Department of Commerce as to the specific types of such
applications that it does not wish to review. All
departments or agencies shall promptly respond, on a
case-by-case basis, to requests from other departments
or agencies for historical information relating to past
license applications.
Sec. 2. Determinations. (a) All license applications
submitted under the Act and the Regulations or any
renewal of, or successor to, the Export Administration
Act and the Regulations, shall be resolved or referred
to the President no later than 90 calendar days after
registration of the completed license application.
(b) The following actions related to processing a
license application submitted under the Act and the
Regulations or any renewal of, or successor to, the
Export Administration Act and the Regulations shall not
be counted in calculating the time periods prescribed
in this order:
(1) Agreement of the Applicant. Delays upon which
the Secretary and the applicant mutually agree.
(2) Prelicense Checks. Prelicense checks through
government channels that may be required to establish
the identity and reliability of the recipient of items
controlled under the Act and the Regulations or any
renewal of,
[[Page 62982]]
or successor to, the Export Administration Act and the Regulations,
provided that:
(A) the need for such prelicense check is
established by the Secretary, or by another department
or agency if the request for prelicense check is made
by such department or agency;
(B) the Secretary requests the prelicense check
within 5 days of the determination that it is
necessary; and
(C) the Secretary completes the analysis of the
result of the prelicense check within 5 days.
(3) Requests for Government-To-Government
Assurances. Requests for government-to-government
assurances of suitable end-use of items approved for
export under the Act and the Regulations or any renewal
of, or successor to, the Export Administration Act and
the Regulations, when failure to obtain such assurances
would result in rejection of the application, provided
that:
(A) the request for such assurances is sent to
the Secretary of State within 5 days of the
determination that the assurances are required;
(B) the Secretary of State initiates the request
of the relevant government within 10 days thereafter;
and
(C) the license is issued within 5 days of the
Secretary's receipt of the requested assurances.
Whenever such prelicense checks and assurances are not
requested within the time periods set forth above, they
must be accomplished within the time periods
established by this section.
(4) Multilateral Reviews. Multilateral review of
a license application as provided for under the Act and
the Regulations or any renewal of, or successor to, the
Export Administration Act and the Regulations, as long
as multilateral review is required by the relevant
multilateral regime.
(5) Consultations. Consultation with other
governments, if such consultation is provided for by a
relevant multilateral regime or bilateral arrangement
as a precondition for approving a license.
Sec. 3. Initial Processing. Within 9 days of
registration of any license application, the Secretary
shall, as appropriate:
(a) request additional information from the
applicant. The time required for the applicant to
supply the additional information shall not be counted
in calculating the time periods prescribed in this
section.
(b) refer the application and pertinent information
to agencies or departments as stipulated in section 1
of this order, and forward to the agencies any relevant
information submitted by the applicant that could not
be reduced to electronic form.
(c) assure that the stated classification on the
application is correct; return the application if a
license is not required; and, if referral to other
departments or agencies is not required, grant the
application or notify the applicant of the Secretary's
intention to deny the application.
Sec. 4. Department or Agency Review. (a) Each reviewing
department or agency shall specify to the Secretary,
within 10 days of receipt of a referral as specified in
subsection 3(b), any information not in the application
that would be required to make a determination, and the
Secretary shall promptly request such information from
the applicant. If, after receipt of the information so
specified or other new information, a reviewing
department or agency concludes that additional
information would be required to make a determination,
it shall promptly specify that additional information
to the Secretary, and the Secretary shall promptly
request such information from the applicant. The time
that may elapse between the date the information is
requested by the reviewing department or agency and the
date the information is received by the reviewing
department or agency shall not be counted in
calculating the time periods prescribed in this order.
Such information specified by reviewing departments or
agencies is in addition to any informa
[[Page 62983]]
tion that may be requested by the Department of Commerce on its own
initiative during the first 9 days after registration
of an application.
(b) Within 30 days of receipt of a referral and all
required information, a department or agency shall
provide the Secretary with a recommendation either to
approve or deny the license application. As
appropriate, such recommendation may be with the
benefit of consultation and discussions in interagency
groups established to provide expertise and coordinate
interagency consultation. A recommendation that the
Secretary deny a license shall include a statement of
the reasons for such recommendation that are consistent
with the provisions of the Act and the Regulations or
any renewal of, or successor to, the Export
Administration Act and the Regulations and shall cite
both the statutory and the regulatory bases for the
recommendation to deny. A department or agency that
fails to provide a recommendation within 30 days with a
statement of reasons and the statutory and regulatory
bases shall be deemed to have no objection to the
decision of the Secretary.
Sec. 5. Interagency Dispute Resolution. (a) Committees.
(1)(A) Export Administration Review Board. The Export
Administration Review Board (``the Board''), which was
established by Executive Order No. 11533 of June 4,
1970, and continued in Executive Order No. 12002 of
July 7, 1977, is hereby continued. The Board shall have
as its members, the Secretary, who shall be Chair of
the Board, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
Defense, the Secretary of Energy, and the Director of
the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. The Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of
Central Intelligence shall be nonvoting members of the
Board. No alternate Board members shall be designated,
but the acting head or deputy head of any member
department or agency may serve in lieu of the head of
the concerned department or agency. The Board may
invite the heads of other United States Government
departments or agencies, other than the departments or
agencies represented by the Board members, to
participate in the activities of the Board when matters
of interest to such departments or agencies are under
consideration.
(B) The Secretary may, from time to time, refer
to the Board such particular export license matters,
involving questions of national security or other major
policy issues, as the Secretary shall select. The
Secretary shall also refer to the Board any other such
export license matter, upon the request of any other
member of the Board or the head of any other United
States Government department or agency having any
interest in such matter. The Board shall consider the
matters so referred to it, giving due consideration to
the foreign policy of the United States, the national
security, the domestic economy, and concerns about the
proliferation of armaments, weapons of mass
destruction, missile delivery systems, and advanced
conventional weapons and shall make recommendations
thereon to the Secretary.
(2) Advisory Committee on Export Policy. An
Advisory Committee on Export Policy (``ACEP'') is
established and shall have as its members the Assistant
Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, who
shall be Chair of the ACEP, and Assistant Secretary-
level representatives of the Departments of State,
Defense, and Energy, and the Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency. Appropriate representatives of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and of the Nonproliferation
Center of the Central Intelligence Agency shall be
nonvoting members of the ACEP. Representatives of the
departments or agencies shall be the appropriate
Assistant Secretary or equivalent (or appropriate
acting Assistant Secretary or equivalent in lieu of the
Assistant Secretary or equivalent) of the concerned
department or agency, or appropriate Deputy Assistant
Secretary or equivalent (or the appropriate acting
Deputy Assistant Secretary or equivalent in lieu of the
Deputy Assistant Secretary or equivalent) of the
concerned department or agency. Regardless of the
department or agency representative's rank, such
representative shall speak and vote at the ACEP on
behalf of the appropriate Assistant Secretary or
equivalent of such department or agency. The ACEP may
invite Assistant Secretary-level representa
[[Page 62984]]
tives of other United States Government departments or agencies, other
than the departments and agencies represented by the
ACEP members, to participate in the activities of the
ACEP when matters of interest to such departments or
agencies are under consideration.
(3)(A) Operating Committee. An Operating
Committee (``OC'') of the ACEP is established. The
Secretary shall appoint its Chair, who shall also serve
as Executive Secretary of the ACEP. Its other members
shall be representatives of appropriate agencies in the
Departments of Commerce, State, Defense, and Energy,
and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. The
appropriate representatives of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff and the Nonproliferation Center of the Central
Intelligence Agency shall be nonvoting members of the
OC. The OC may invite representatives of other United
States Government departments or agencies, other than
the departments and agencies represented by the OC
members, to participate in the activities of the OC
when matters of interest to such departments or
agencies are under consideration.
(B) The OC shall review all license applications
on which the reviewing departments and agencies are not
in agreement. The Chair of the OC shall consider the
recommendations of the reviewing departments and
agencies and inform them of his or her decision on any
such matters within 14 days after the deadline for
receiving department and agency recommendations. As
described below, any reviewing department or agency may
appeal the decision of the Chair of the OC to the Chair
of the ACEP. In the absence of a timely appeal, the
Chair's decision will be final.
(b) Resolution Procedures. (1) If any department or
agency disagrees with a licensing determination of the
Department of Commerce made through the OC, it may
appeal the matter to the ACEP for resolution. A
department or agency must appeal a matter within 5 days
of such a decision. Appeals must be in writing from an
official appointed by the President by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, or an officer
properly acting in such capacity, and must cite both
the statutory and the regulatory bases for the appeal.
The ACEP shall review all departments' and agencies'
information and recommendations, and the Chair of the
ACEP shall inform the reviewing departments and
agencies of the majority vote decision of the ACEP
within 11 days from the date of receiving notice of the
appeal. Within 5 days of the majority vote decision,
any dissenting department or agency may appeal the
decision by submitting a letter from the head of the
department or agency to the Secretary in his or her
capacity as the Chair of the Board. Such letter shall
cite both the statutory and the regulatory bases for
the appeal. Within the same period of time, the
Secretary may call a meeting on his or her own
initiative to consider a license application. In the
absence of a timely appeal, the majority vote decision
of the ACEP shall be final.
(2) The Board shall review all departments' and
agencies' information and recommendations, and such
other export control matters as may be appropriate. The
Secretary shall inform the reviewing departments and
agencies of the majority vote of the Board within 11
days from the date of receiving notice of appeal.
Within 5 days of the decision, any department or agency
dissenting from the majority vote decision of the Board
may appeal the decision by submitting a letter from the
head of the dissenting department or agency to the
President. In the absence of a timely appeal, the
majority vote decision of the Board shall be final.
Sec. 6. The license review process in this order shall
take effect beginning with those license applications
registered by the Secretary 60 days after the date of
this order and shall continue in effect to the extent
not inconsistent with any renewal of the Export
Administration Act, or with any successor to that Act.
[[Page 62985]]
Sec. 7. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to
improve the internal management of the executive branch
and is not intended to, and does not, create any rights
to administrative or judicial review, or any other
right or benefit or trust responsibility, substantive
or procedural, enforceable by a party against the
United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its
officers or employees, or any other person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 5, 1995.
[FR Doc. 95-30106
Filed 12-6-95; 2:31 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P
