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Testimony Before the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging 
Threats, and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, 
House of Representatives:

United States General Accounting Office:

GAO:

For Release on Delivery Expected at 2:00 p.m. EST:

Tuesday, March 9, 2004:

Nonproliferation:

Improvements Needed for Controls on Exports of Cruise Missile and 
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology:

Statement of Joseph A. Christoff, Director International Affairs and 
Trade:

GAO-04-493T:

GAO Highlights:

Highlights of GAO-04-493T, testimony before the Subcommittee on 
National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, 
Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives 

Why GAO Did This Study:

Cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) pose a growing 
threat to U.S. national security interests as accurate, inexpensive 
delivery systems for conventional, chemical, and biological weapons. 
GAO assessed (1) the tools the U.S. and foreign governments use to 
address proliferation risks posed by the sale of these items and (2) 
efforts to verify the end use of exported cruise missiles, UAVs, and 
related technology.

What GAO Found:

The growing threat to U.S. national security of cruise missile and UAV 
proliferation is challenging the tools the United States has 
traditionally used. Multilateral export control regimes have expanded 
their lists of controlled technologies that include cruise missile and 
UAV items, but key countries of concern are not members. U.S. export 
control authorities find it increasingly difficult to limit or track 
unlisted dual-use items that can be acquired without an export license. 
Moreover, a gap in U.S. export control authority enables American 
companies to export certain dual-use items to recipients that are not 
associated with missile projects or countries listed in the 
regulations, even if the exporter knows the items might be used to 
develop cruise missiles or UAVs. American companies have in fact 
legally exported dual-use items with no U.S. government review to a New 
Zealand resident who bought the items to build a cruise missile.

The U.S. government seldom uses its end-use monitoring programs to 
verify compliance with conditions placed on the use of cruise missile, 
UAV, or related technology exports. For example, State officials do not 
monitor exports to verify compliance with license conditions on 
missiles or other items, despite legal and regulatory requirements to 
do so. Defense has not used its end-use monitoring program initiated in 
2002 to check the compliance of users of more than 500 cruise missiles 
exported between fiscal years 1998 and 2002. Commerce conducted visits 
to assess the end use of items for about 1 percent of the 2,490 missile-
related licenses we reviewed. Thus, the U.S. government cannot be 
confident that recipients are effectively safeguarding equipment in 
ways that protect U.S. national security and nonproliferation 
interests. 

What GAO Recommends:

The Secretary of Commerce should assess and report to Congress on the 
adequacy of an export regulation provision to address missile 
proliferation by nonstate actors and on ways the provision might be 
modified to address a gap in U.S. export control authority.

The Secretaries of State, Commerce, and Defense each should complete a 
comprehensive assessment of cruise missile, UAV, and related dual-use 
transfers to determine if U.S. exporters and foreign end users comply 
with conditions related to the transfers.

Commerce and Defense partially agreed with the recommendations. State 
disagreed to complete an assessment, but said it would pay special 
attention to the need for more checks on cruise missile and UAV 
transfers.

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-493T.

To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on 
the link above. For more information, contact Joseph A. Christoff at 
(202) 512-8979 or christoffj@gao.gov.

[End of section]

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,

I am pleased to be here today to discuss GAO's report[Footnote 1] on 
U.S. efforts to limit the proliferation of cruise missiles and unmanned 
aerial vehicles (UAV). These efforts are complicated by the widespread 
availability of these items among countries of concern.[Footnote 2] The 
U.S. government faces trade-offs when making decisions about transfers 
of cruise missiles, UAVs, or related technology. The United States 
wants to prevent the proliferation of these weapons systems to 
countries of concern and terrorists. At the same time, the U.S. 
government has an interest in encouraging transfers of cruise missiles 
and UAVs to U.S. allies to support regional security and bilateral 
relations. The U.S. government also wants to use these sales to help 
maintain the health of the U.S. defense industrial base.

You asked us to assess U.S. and international efforts to limit the 
proliferation of cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and related 
technology. Specifically, we assessed (1) the nature and extent of 
cruise missile and UAV proliferation; (2) the nonproliferation tools 
that the United States uses to address the proliferation risks posed by 
the sale of these items; and (3) U.S. and other governments' efforts to 
verify the end use of exported cruise missiles, UAVs, and related 
technology.

To address these issues, we reviewed analyses prepared by the 
Departments of State, Commerce, Defense, and Homeland Security, and the 
U.S. intelligence community, as well as studies prepared by 
nonproliferation experts. We also reviewed multilateral export control 
regime[Footnote 3] documentation; met with representatives of the 
Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in Paris, France; and 
interviewed government officials in France, Italy, and the United 
Kingdom. Furthermore, we analyzed export licensing information from the 
Departments of State, Commerce, and Defense on exports of cruise 
missiles, UAVs, and related dual-use technology that have both military 
and civilian applications.

Summary:

In summary, we found that:

* Cruise missiles and UAVs pose a growing threat to U.S. national 
security interests as accurate and inexpensive delivery systems for 
conventional, chemical, and biological weapons. Conventional anti-ship 
cruise missiles pose an immediate threat to U.S. naval vessels because 
of the widespread availability of these weapons worldwide. At least 70 
nations currently possess some type of anti-ship missiles armed with 
conventional, high explosive warheads, and at least 32 nations are 
developing or manufacturing more than 250 models of UAVs. Land-attack 
cruise missiles pose a future threat to the U.S. homeland because of 
the anticipated growth in the availability of these more accurate, 
longer-range systems. The widespread availability of commercial items, 
such as global positioning systems and lightweight engines, has made it 
easier for countries and terrorists to acquire or build at least 
rudimentary cruise missile or UAV systems.

* The United States primarily uses multilateral export control regimes 
and national export controls among other tools to address the threat 
associated with cruise missile and UAV proliferation. Between 1997 and 
2002, multilateral export control regimes have added cruise missile and 
UAV-related items to their control lists, thereby committing regime 
members to provide greater scrutiny to these items before licensing 
them for export. However, nonmembers such as China and Israel continue 
to acquire, develop, and export cruise missile or UAV technology. This 
growing capability of nonmember supplier countries to develop 
technologies used for weapons of mass destruction and trade them with 
other countries of proliferation concern undermines the regimes' 
ability to impede proliferation. In addition, the United States faces 
limitations in applying national export controls. First, the U.S. 
government finds it difficult to identify and track widely available 
dual-use items that are not on control lists but that can be used for 
cruise missile and UAV proliferation purposes. Second, a gap in U.S. 
catch-all control regulations[Footnote 4] enabled American companies to 
legally export dual-use items to a New Zealand resident who bought the 
items to show how a terrorist could legally build a cruise missile.

* The U.S. government uses post-shipment verification (PSV) visits as a 
key tool available to confirm that the recipients of sensitive U.S. 
technologies are using them in accordance with license conditions. 
However, of 786 licenses for cruise missile and UAV technology that the 
Department of State issued between fiscal years 1998 and 2002, it 
conducted verification visits on only 4 licenses. The Department of 
Defense conducted no monitoring over more than 500 cruise missiles and 
related items that it transferred to other countries between fiscal 
years 1998 and 2002. The Department of Commerce conducted verification 
visits on 1 percent of nearly 2,500 missile-related licenses issued 
between fiscal years 1998 to 2002.

We are recommending that the Secretary of Commerce assess and report to 
Congress on the adequacy of the export control regulations' catch-all 
provision to address missile proliferation by nonstate actors and on 
ways the provision might be modified. We are also recommending that the 
Secretaries of State, Commerce, and Defense each complete a 
comprehensive assessment of the nature and extent of compliance with 
license conditions on cruise missiles, UAVs, and related dual-use 
technology. Commerce and Defense partially agreed with the 
recommendations. State disagreed to complete an assessment, but said it 
would pay special attention to the need for more checks on cruise 
missile and UAV transfers.

Background:

Distinctions between cruise missiles and UAVs are becoming blurred as 
the militaries of many nations, in particular the United States, attach 
missiles to traditional reconnaissance UAVs and develop UAVs dedicated 
to combat missions. A UAV, a pilotless vehicle that operates like an 
airplane, can be used for a variety of military and commercial 
purposes. UAVs are available in a variety of sizes and shapes, 
propeller-driven or jet propelled, and can be straight-wing aircraft or 
have tilt-rotors like helicopters. They can be as small as a model 
aircraft or as large as a U-2 manned reconnaissance aircraft. A cruise 
missile is an unmanned aerial vehicle designed for one-time use, which 
travels through the air like an airplane before delivering its payload. 
A cruise missile consists of four major components: a propulsion 
system, a guidance and control system, an airframe, and a payload. The 
technology for the engine, the autopilot, and the airframe could be 
similar for both cruise missiles and UAVs, according to a 2000 U.S. 
government study of cruise missiles.

Cruise missiles provide a number of military capabilities. For example, 
they present significant challenges for air and missile defenses. 
Cruise missiles can fly at low altitudes to stay below radar and, in 
some cases, hide behind terrain features. Newer missiles are 
incorporating stealth features to make them less visible to radars and 
infrared detectors. Furthermore, land-attack cruise missiles may fly 
circuitous routes to get to their targets, thereby avoiding radar and 
air defense installations.

U.S. policy on the proliferation of cruise missiles and UAVs is 
expressed in U.S. commitments to the MTCR and Wassenaar Arrangement. 
These multilateral export control regimes are voluntary, nonbinding 
arrangements among like-minded supplier countries that aim to restrict 
trade in sensitive technologies. Regime members agree to restrict such 
trade through their national laws and regulations, which set up systems 
to license the exports of sensitive items. The four principal regimes 
are the MTCR; the Wassenaar Arrangement, which focuses on trade in 
conventional weapons and related items with both civilian and military 
(dual-use) applications; the Australia Group, which focuses on chemical 
and biological technologies; and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which 
focuses on nuclear technologies. The United States is a member of all 
four regimes. Regime members conduct a number of activities in support 
of the regimes, including (1) sharing information about each others' 
export licensing decisions, including certain export denials and, in 
some cases, approvals and (2) adopting common export control practices 
and control lists of sensitive equipment and technology into national 
laws or regulations.

Exports of commercially supplied American-made cruise missiles, 
military UAVs, and related technology are transferred pursuant to the 
Arms Export Control Act, as amended, and the International Trafficking 
in Arms Regulations, implemented by State. Government-to-government 
transfers are made pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as 
amended, and are subject to DOD guidance. Exports of dual-use 
technologies related to cruise missiles and UAVs[Footnote 5] are 
transferred pursuant to the Export Administration Act of 1979, as 
amended,[Footnote 6] and the Export Administration 
Regulations,[Footnote 7] implemented by Commerce.

The Arms Export Control Act, as amended in 1996, requires the President 
to establish a program for end-use monitoring of defense articles and 
services sold or exported under the provisions of the act and the 
Foreign Assistance Act.[Footnote 8] This requirement states that, to 
the extent practicable, end-use monitoring programs should provide 
reasonable assurance that recipients comply with the requirements 
imposed by the U.S. government on the use, transfer, and security of 
defense articles and services. In addition, monitoring programs, to the 
extent practicable, are to provide assurances that defense articles and 
services are used for the purposes for which they are provided. The 
Export Administration Act, as amended, provides the Department of 
Commerce with the authority to enforce dual-use controls. Under the 
act, Commerce is authorized to conduct PSV visits outside the United 
States of dual-use exports.[Footnote 9]

Proliferation of Cruise Missiles and UAVs Poses a Growing Threat to 
U.S. National Security Interests:

Although cruise missiles and UAVs provide important capabilities for 
the United States and its friends and allies, in the hands of U.S. 
adversaries they pose substantial threats to U.S. interests. First, 
anti-ship cruise missiles threaten U.S. naval forces deployed globally. 
We reported in 2000 that the next generation of anti-ship cruise 
missiles--most of which are now expected to be fielded by 2007--will be 
equipped with advanced target seekers and stealthy design.[Footnote 10] 
These features will make them more difficult to detect and defeat. At 
least 70 nations possess some type of cruise missile, mostly short-
range, anti-ship missiles armed with conventional, high-explosive 
warheads, according to a U.S. government study. Countries that export 
cruise missiles currently include China, France, Germany, Israel, 
Italy, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. 
China and Russia have sold cruise missiles to Iran, Iraq, Libya, North 
Korea, and Syria. Nations that manufacture but do not yet export cruise 
missiles currently include Brazil, India, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, 
South Africa, and Taiwan. None of these nonexporting manufacturing 
countries is a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement, and only Brazil and 
South Africa are in the MTCR.

Second, land-attack cruise missiles have a potential in the long-term 
to threaten the continental United States and U.S. forces deployed 
overseas. Various government and academic studies have raised concerns 
that the wide availability of commercial items, such as global 
positioning system receivers and lightweight engines, allows both 
countries and nonstate actors to enhance the accuracy of their systems, 
upgrade to greater range or payload capabilities, and convert certain 
anti-ship cruise missiles into land-attack cruise missiles. Although 
not all cruise missiles can be modified into land-attack cruise 
missiles because of technical barriers, specific cruise missiles can 
and have been. For example, a 1999 study outlined how the Chinese 
Silkworm anti-ship cruise missile had been converted into a land-attack 
cruise missile.[Footnote 11] Furthermore, the Iraq Survey Group 
reported in October 2003 that it had discovered 10 Silkworm anti-ship 
cruise missiles modified to become land-attack cruise missiles and that 
Iraq had fired 2 of these missiles at Kuwait. According to an 
unclassified national intelligence estimate,[Footnote 12] several 
countries are technically capable of developing a missile launch 
mechanism to station on forward-based ships or other platforms to 
launch land-attack cruise missiles against the United States.

Finally, UAVs represent an inexpensive means of launching chemical and 
biological attacks against the United States and allied forces and 
territory. For example, the U.S. government reported its concern over 
this threat in various meetings and studies. The Acting Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation testified in June 
2002 that UAVs are potential delivery systems for WMD, and are ideally 
suited for the delivery of chemical and biological weapons given their 
ability to disseminate aerosols in appropriate locations at appropriate 
altitudes. He added that, although the primary concern has been that 
nation-states would use UAVs to launch WMD attacks, there is potential 
for terrorist groups to produce or acquire small UAVs and use them for 
chemical or biological weapons delivery.

Key Nonproliferation Tools Have Limitations Addressing Cruise Missile 
and UAV Proliferation:

The U.S. government generally uses two key nonproliferation tools---
multilateral export control regimes and national export controls--to 
address cruise missile and UAV proliferation, but both tools have 
limitations. The United States and other governments have traditionally 
used multilateral export control regimes, principally the MTCR, to 
address missile proliferation. However, despite successes in 
strengthening controls, the growing capability of countries of concern 
to develop and trade technologies used for WMD limits the regime's 
ability to impede proliferation. For example, between 1997 and 2002, 
the United States and other governments successfully revised the MTCR's 
control lists of sensitive missile-related equipment and technology to 
include six of eight U.S.-proposed items related to cruise missile and 
UAV technology. Adding items to the control lists commits regime 
members to provide greater scrutiny when deciding whether to license 
the items for export. Despite the efforts of these regimes, nonmembers 
such as China and Israel continue to acquire, develop, and export 
cruise missile or UAV technology. The growing capability of nonmember 
supplier countries to develop technologies that could be used for WMD 
and trade them with other countries of proliferation concern undermines 
the regimes' ability to prevent proliferation.

In October 2002, we reported on other limitations that impede the 
ability of the multilateral export control regimes, including the MTCR 
and Wassenaar Arrangement, to achieve their nonproliferation goals. We 
found that MTCR members may not share complete and timely information, 
such as members' denied export licenses, in part because the regime 
lacks an electronic data system to send and retrieve such information. 
The Wassenaar Arrangement members share export license approval 
information but collect and aggregate it to a degree that it cannot be 
used constructively. Both MTCR and the Wassenaar Arrangement use a 
consensus-based process that makes decision-making difficult. The 
regimes also lack a means to enforce compliance with members' political 
commitments to regime principles. We recommended that the Secretary of 
State establish a strategy to work with other regime members to enhance 
the effectiveness of the regimes by implementing a number of steps, 
including (1) adopting an automated information-sharing system in MTCR 
to facilitate more timely information exchanges, (2) sharing greater 
and more detailed information on approved exports of sensitive 
transfers to nonmember countries, (3) assessing alternative processes 
for reaching decisions, and (4) evaluating means for encouraging 
greater adherence to regime commitments.[Footnote 13] However, State 
has not been responsive in implementing the recommendation to establish 
a strategy to enhance the effectiveness of the regimes. State officials 
said that the recommendation is under consideration in a review by the 
National Security Council that has been ongoing for over a year.

The U.S. government uses its national export control authorities to 
address missile proliferation but finds it difficult to identify and 
track commercially available items not covered by control lists. For 
example, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents upon 
inspecting an item to be exported might identify that the item is a 
circuit board, but not that it is part of a guidance system and that 
the guidance system is intended for a cruise missile. Moreover, a gap 
in the catch-all provision of U.S. export control regulations could 
allow subnational actors to acquire American cruise missile or UAV 
technology for missile proliferation or terrorist purposes without 
violating U.S. export control laws or regulations. This gap in U.S. 
export control authority enabled American companies to legally export 
dual-use items to a New Zealand resident who bought the items to show 
how a terrorist could legally build a cruise missile. The gap results 
from current regulations that restrict the sale of certain dual-use 
items to national missile proliferation projects and countries of 
concern, but not to nonstate actors such as certain terrorist 
organizations or individuals.[Footnote 14] The United States has other 
nonproliferation tools to address cruise missile and UAV proliferation-
-diplomacy, sanctions, and interdiction of illicit shipments of items-
-but these tools have had unclear results or have been little used.

Compliance with Conditions on Exports of Cruise Missiles, UAVs, and 
Dual-use Items Seldom Verified through End-use Monitoring:

End-use monitoring refers to the procedures used to verify that foreign 
recipients of controlled U.S. exports use such items according to U.S. 
terms and conditions of transfer. A post-shipment verification visit is 
a key end-use monitoring tool for U.S. agencies to confirm that 
authorized recipients of U.S. technology both received transferred 
items and used them in accordance with conditions of the transfer.

State is responsible for conducting PSVs on direct commercial sales of 
cruise missiles, UAVs, and related technology. We found that State did 
not use PSVs to assess compliance with cruise missile or UAV licenses 
having conditions limiting how the item may be used. These licenses 
included items deemed significant by State regulations.[Footnote 15] 
Based on State licensing data, we identified 786 licenses for cruise 
missiles, UAVs, or related items[Footnote 16] from fiscal years 1998 
through 2002. Of these, 480 (61 percent) were licenses with conditions, 
while 306 (39 percent) were licenses without conditions. We found that 
State did not conduct PSVs for any of the 480 licenses with conditions 
and conducted PSVs on 4 of 306 licenses approved without conditions. A 
State licensing official stated that few post-shipment checks have been 
conducted for cruise missiles, UAVs, and related items because many are 
destined for well-known end users in friendly countries. However, over 
fiscal years 1998 through 2002, 129 of the 786 licenses authorized the 
transfer of cruise missile and UAV-related items to countries such as 
Egypt, Israel, and India. These countries are not MTCR members, which 
indicates that they might pose a higher risk of diversion.

In commenting on a draft of our report, State emphasized the importance 
of pre-license checks in verifying controls over the end user and end 
use of exported items and said that we did not include such checks in 
our analysis. We therefore reviewed the original 786 cruise missile and 
UAV licenses to determine how many had received pre-license checks, a 
possible mitigating factor reducing the need to conduct a PSV. We found 
that only 6 of the 786 licenses from fiscal years 1998 through 2002 
that State provided us had been selected for pre-license checks.

Defense is responsible for monitoring transfers of cruise missiles, 
UAVs, and related technology provided under government-to-government 
agreements through the Foreign Military Sales program. Defense's end-
use monitoring program has conducted no end-use checks related to 
cruise missile or UAV transfers, according to the program director. 
From fiscal years 1998 through 2002, DOD approved 37 agreements for the 
transfer of more than 500 cruise missiles and related items, as well as 
one transfer of UAV training software. The agreements authorized the 
transfer of Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, Standoff land-attack 
missiles, and Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as supporting 
equipment such as launch tubes, training missiles, and spare parts. 
Approximately 30 percent of cruise missile transfers were destined for 
non-MTCR countries. Despite the 1996 legal requirement to create an 
end-use monitoring program, Defense's Golden Sentry monitoring program 
is not yet fully implemented. DOD issued program guidance in December 
2002 that identified the specific responsibilities for new end-use 
monitoring activities. In addition, as of February 2004, DOD was 
conducting visits to Foreign Military Sales recipient countries to 
determine the level of monitoring needed and was identifying weapons 
and technologies that may require more stringent end-use monitoring. 
The program director stated that he is considering adding cruise 
missiles and UAVs to a list of weapon systems that receive more 
comprehensive monitoring.

The Commerce Department is responsible for conducting PSVs on exports 
of dual-use technology that might have military applications for cruise 
missiles and UAVs. Based on Commerce licensing data, we found that 
Commerce issued 2,490 dual-use licenses between fiscal years 1998 and 
2002 for items that could be useful in developing cruise missiles or 
UAVs.[Footnote 17] These licenses were for items to countries including 
India, Israel, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Arab 
Emirates. Of these, Commerce selected 2 percent of the licenses, or 52 
cases, for a PSV visit and completed visits for about 1 percent of the 
licenses, or 29 cases.

Other supplier countries place conditions on cruise missile and UAV-
related transfers, but few reported conducting end-use monitoring once 
they exported the items. While national export laws authorize end-use 
monitoring, none of the foreign government officials reported to us any 
PSV visits for cruise missile or UAV-related items. Government 
officials in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom stated that their 
respective governments generally do not verify conditions on cruise 
missile and UAV transfers and conduct few PSV visits of such exports. 
The South African government was the only additional supplier country 
responding to a written request for information[Footnote 18] that 
reported it regularly requires and conducts PSVs on cruise missile and 
UAV transfers.

Conclusion:

The continued proliferation of cruise missiles and UAVs poses a growing 
threat to the United States, its forces overseas, and its allies. Most 
countries already possess cruise missiles, UAVs, or related technology, 
and many are expected to develop or obtain more sophisticated systems 
in the future. The dual-use nature of many of the components of cruise 
missiles and UAVs also raises the prospect that terrorists could 
develop rudimentary systems that could pose additional security threats 
to the United States. Because this technology is widely available 
throughout the world, the United States works in concert with other 
countries through multilateral export control regimes whose limited 
effectiveness could be enhanced by adopting recommendations we have 
made in previous reports. U.S. export controls may not be sufficient to 
prevent cruise missile and UAV proliferation and to ensure compliance 
with license conditions. Because some key dual-use components can be 
acquired without an export license, it is difficult for the export 
control system to limit or track their use. Moreover, current U.S. 
export controls may not prevent proliferation by nonstate actors, such 
as certain terrorists, who operate in countries that are not currently 
restricted under missile proliferation regulations. Furthermore, the 
U.S. government seldom uses its end-use monitoring programs to verify 
compliance with the conditions placed on items that could be used to 
develop cruise missiles or UAVs. As a result, the U.S. government does 
not have sufficient information to know whether recipients of these 
exports are effectively safeguarding equipment and technology and, 
thus, protecting U.S. national security and nonproliferation interests. 
The challenges to U.S. nonproliferation efforts in this area, coupled 
with the absence of end-use monitoring programs by several foreign 
governments for their exports of cruise missiles or UAVs, raise 
questions about how nonproliferation tools are keeping pace with the 
changing threat.

Recommendations for Executive Action:

We recommended that the Secretary of Commerce assess and report to 
Congress on the adequacy of the export control regulations' catch-all 
provision to address missile proliferation by nonstate actors and on 
ways the provision might be modified. We also recommended that the 
Secretaries of State, Commerce, and Defense each complete a 
comprehensive assessment of the nature and extent of compliance with 
license conditions on cruise missiles, UAVs, and related dual-use 
technology. As part of the assessment, the departments should also 
conduct additional PSV visits on a sample of cruise missile and UAV 
licenses. This assessment would allow the departments to gain critical 
information that would allow them to better balance potential 
proliferation risks of various technologies with available resources 
for conducting future PSV visits.

Commerce and Defense partially concurred with our recommendations, 
which we modified to address their comments. State disagreed with the 
need to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the nature and extent of 
compliance with license conditions for cruise missile and UAV 
technology transfers. However, State said that it would consider 
conducting more PSVs on such technology transfers as it improves its 
monitoring program.

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, this concludes my 
prepared statement. I will be happy to answer any questions you may 
have.

Contact and Acknowledgments:

For future contacts regarding this testimony, please contact Joseph 
Christoff at (202) 512-8979. David C. Maurer, Jeffrey D. Phillips, 
Claude Adrien, W. William Russell IV, Lynn Cothern, Stephen M. Lord, 
and Richard Seldin made key contributions to this statement.

FOOTNOTES

[1] U.S. General Accounting Office, Nonproliferation: Improvements 
Needed to Better Control Technology Exports for Cruise Missiles and 
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, GAO-04-175 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 23, 2004).

[2] Countries of missile proliferation concern listed in the Export 
Administration Regulations are Bahrain, China, Egypt, India, Iran, 
Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Macau, North Korea, Oman, 
Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

[3] Multilateral export control regimes are voluntary, nonbinding 
arrangements among likeminded supplier countries that aim to restrict 
trade in sensitive technologies to peaceful purposes. Regime members 
agree to restrict such trade through their national laws and 
regulations, which set up systems to license the exports of sensitive 
items.

[4] Catch-all controls are controls that authorize a government to 
require an export license for items that are not on control lists but 
that are known or suspected of being intended for use in a missile or 
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program.

[5] Related items include technical data, subcomponents, and spare 
parts.

[6] 50 U.S.C. app. §§ 2401 and following. Executive Order 13222, 66 
Fed. Reg. 44025 and subsequent presidential notices continue the export 
control regime established under the act and the Export Administration 
Regulations.

[7] 15 C.F.R. §§ 730-774.

[8] 22 U.S.C. § 2785.

[9] 50 U.S.C. app § 2411(a)(1).

[10] U.S. General Accounting Office, Defense Acquisitions: 
Comprehensive Strategy Needed to Improve Ship Cruise Missile Defense, 
GAO-NSIAD-00-149 (Washington, D.C.: July 2000).

[11] Feasibility of Third World Advanced Ballistic and Cruise Missile 
Threat, Volume 2: Emerging Cruise Missile Threat, Systems Assessment 
Group; National Defense Industrial Association Strike, Land-Attack and 
Air Defense Committee (Washington, D.C.: August 1999).

[12] Foreign Missile Developments and the Ballistic Missile Threat 
Through 2015, Unclassified Summary of a National Intelligence Estimate, 
National Intelligence Council (Washington, D.C.: December 2001).

[13] U.S. General Accounting Office, Nonproliferation: Strategy Needed 
to Strengthen Multilateral Export Control Regimes, GAO-03-43 
(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 25, 2002).

[14] See 15 C.F.R. § 744.3(a). Although the Export Administration 
Regulations restrict exports to terrorist organizations and individuals 
that are listed in the regulations, the regulations do not apply to 
those that are not listed.

[15] The International Trafficking in Arms Regulations define 
significant military equipment as articles for which special export 
controls are warranted because of their capacity for substantial 
military utility or capability. 22 C.F.R. § 120.7.

[16] Related items may include spare parts, software, or technical 
data.

[17] The Commerce Control List does not designate whether an item is 
useful for ballistic missiles or cruise missiles, according to Commerce 
officials, but identifies only that an item is useful for missile 
technology. The 2,490 cruise missile or UAV-related licenses that we 
reviewed were in dual-use missile-related categories of items in the 
Export Administration Regulations that the Commerce Department 
determined contain items that could be used for cruise missile purposes 
or for UAVs or their components.

[18] Governments responding to our request were Israel, Japan, South 
Africa, and Switzerland. Russia's and Canada's responses were provided 
too late to be included in our January 2004 report. Other countries 
that we queried provided no information on end-use monitoring.