24 May 2000
Source:
http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=00052302.plt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml
US Department of State
International Information Programs
Washington File
_________________________________
23 May 2000
(Officials outline Defense Trade Security Initiative) (720) By Susan Ellis Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- A new Defense Trade Security Initiative (DTSI) represents the first major post-Cold War adjustment to the U.S. Defense Export Control system, a senior Clinton administration official told reporters at a State Department briefing May 23. The initiative represents a joint effort by the State and Defense Departments to improve the efficiency and competition of defense markets, while maintaining the necessary export controls to safeguard national security, the official said. Secretary of State Albright is to formally announce the DTSI at the spring meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Florence, Italy, May 24. The official said the DTSI "is designed to strengthen NATO and support the Defense Capabilities Initiative (DCI) by promoting the sharing of technology which will, in turn, enhance the interoperability of our forces and contribute to the health and productivity of defense industries on both sides of the Atlantic." The defense trade marketplace has changed dramatically over the past decade, he said, and the technology revolution has "led to a tremendous leveling of access for allies and adversaries alike," resulting in "an increasingly permissive and sophisticated conventional arms market." Deregulation and global competition are compelling defense industries "to consolidate via mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures at an unprecedented scale....Meanwhile rogue states continue to gain access to sensitive technologies by taking advantage of the substantial increase in globalized trade," he continued. The threat of illegal diversion poses grave national security concerns, and "could lead to an upward spiral of arms acquisitions with destabilizing consequences," the official said, adding that although arms transfers pose risks, "they are essential to providing needed support to our friends and allies." Asked whether simplifying the export of arms would not enhance weapons proliferation when the United States is intent on promoting non-proliferation, the official responded, "What we are concerned about is transfers that might leave the United States and go to countries of concern or upset regional balances.... "To the extent that we can create incentives for the allies to strengthen their own export controls, compared to what we have now, that will strengthen control not only in the re-export of our material but on the exports of their own materials. So I think it will limit the transfers of technology to dangerous places and facilitate the transfer of technology to places where we want to cooperate." On the subject of sharing technologies which DTTI would enhance, he said that the Kosovo conflict "served as a warning call that the capabilities gap, if left unresolved, could threaten the future operational viability of the entire Alliance. To address this disturbing trend, NATO initiated the DCI and the ESDI (European Security and Defense Identity). "Each is designed to address the challenge of interoperability of allied forces in this era of rapid technological change. We must be able to readily share and exchange military systems and technologies with our allies and future coalition partners," he said. Calling it "key" that U.S. defense industries be able to "work in collaborative cross-border arrangements with allied industries," he said DTSI "has a dual purpose. The initiative will help maintain a strong and robust transatlantic defense industrial base. It can provide innovative and affordable products needed to meet NATO governments' war-fighting requirements for the 21st century. "It also strengthens our mutual security by enhancing compliance and enforcement mechanisms and encouraging a strengthening of export controls among our treaty allies. The initiative involves a substantial improvement over the current U.S. export control system both from a resources and procedural perspective," he said. Congress has appropriated an additional $2 million to the Office of Defense Trade Controls operations budget for Fiscal Year 2000-2001, the official said, and the Defense Department has programmed $30 million for intercommunications activity and automation upgrades to facilitate communications among the Departments of State, Commerce and Defense. Three additional administration officials also briefed on technical and defense-related aspects of the DTSI. In response to questions, they said that Japan and Australia, as well as NATO allies, will participate in DTSI. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)