DTC’s Customer Service Plan
Commitment to Our Customers

In accordance with the Administration's National
Performance Review, all Federal agencies that
provide significant services directly to the public
are required to publish a customer service plan.
The plan below explains DTC's mission, services
DTC provides, and DTC's commitment to quality.
As a part of our continuing effort to provide qual-
ity service, DTC will periodically survey the com-
munity it serves.

Our Mission

The Office of Defense Trade Controls, in ac-
cordance with Sections 38-40 of the Arms Ex-
port Control Act (AECA or 22 U.S.C. 2778)
and the International Traffic in Arms Regula-
tions (ITAR), controls the permanent and
temporary export and temporary import of
defense articles and defense services by tak-
ing final action on license applications and
other requests for approval for defense trade
exports and retransfers, and handling matters
related to defense trade compliance, enforce-
ment and reporting.

Service to Customers

In order to promote world peace, further U.S.
foreign policy and national security interests,
and facilitate legitimate export of commodi-
ties and services covered by the U.S. Muni-
tions List and to facilitate the best customer
service possible DTC is committed to:

* Providing timely, professional, knowledge-
able, and courteous service to customers seek-
ing guidance on registration, making applica-
tions for a defense export license or other ap-
provais, requesting the status of specific li-
censing cases, or seeking guidance regarding
compliance with export law and regulations.

* Taking initial action on all license applica-
tions (approve, disapprove, return without
action, or coordinate with other offices)
within 10 working days of receipt.

* Informing each registered individual and
company with timely information on the sta-
tus of their license application. For persons
who do not have electronic access to the DTC
(system) timely telephone responses are pro-
vided. Telephone inquiries are responded to
by a responsible officer within 24 hours of
receipt.

¢ Providing timely and authoritative guid-
ance to the U.S. defense industry regarding
export policies, procedures, and practices,
based on interpretation of the International
Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Arms
Export Control Act (AECA) and other perti-
nent laws, national interests, and
multinational agreements or arrangements.
This includes the presentation of and partici-
pation in organized seminars, in house train-
ing, and other public outreach efforts, such as
the Defense Trade News.

* Enhancing automated data processing to
facilitate the electronic handling of requests
for licenses and other approvals and to in-
crease responsiveness to U.S. government
requests for assistance.

¢ Ensuring proper compliance with U.S.
regulations, effective investigative and
prosecutorial enforcement actions, as well as
administrative procedural follow-up against
violators of the AECA and the ITAR.

* Surveying customer satisfaction periodi-
cally to solicit suggestions for improving DTC
services.

Commitment to Quality

The Office of Defense Trade Controls recognizes its responsibility to the American public and other
governmental offices to provide the finest service possible at all times. As part of DTC’s quest for
improvement, the office uses an analytical approach, with statistical methods and other
problemsolving tools, to accomplish its licensing and compliance missions.


offered by other agencies. Negative com-
ments varied considerably, ranging from the
desire for more public outreach, to the need
for more telephonic accessibility to DTC per-
sonnel, to concerns about regulation of de-
fense trade.

Other Public Input

DTC officials also receive a considerable
amount of other comment about office perfor-
mance in the area of customer service. This is
largely in the form of letters and facsimile
messages, meetings with industry (one-on-
one and industry association events), tele-
phonic conversations, and feedback to our
Participation in public outreach fora. This
information--less formal than the Survey re-
sults and often focussing on individual DTC
personne] rather than overall office opera-
tions--is also given our keen attention. In
general, the substance seem to support the
Survey findings.

Next Steps for DTC

DTC will review its Customer Service Plan in
an effort to ensure its relevancy to changing
customer requirements and will publish those
standards of performance.

An immediate priority in response to the Sur-
vey must be improvement of timely commu-
nication with the private sector. To this end,
during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 1997,
DTC plans to enhance its telephone system.
and establish an interactive “Web” site on the
Internet.

In July 1996, DTC received a letter from a
small business that noted “At a time when
many of our government agencies are criti-
cized for lack of efficiency and/or poor ser-
vice, your staff stands tall as an example of
what every agency should be.” With new
service standards and improved performance,
DTC will seek to engender that sentiment
among all its customers.



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DEFENSE TRADE NEWS

United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20522-0602

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United States Department of State bd Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

, Defense Trade News

and Export Policy Bulletin

Volume 7, Number 2 e Washington, D.C. ° September, 1996

Office of Defense Trade Controls
Customer Satisfaction Report

Commitment to Our Customers


Secretary of State
Warren Christopher

Assistant Secretary
of State for
Political-Military
Affairs
Thomas E. McNamara

Deputy Assistant
Secretary for
Export Controls
Martha Caldwell Harris

Executive Editor
Lana C. Chumley

Managing and
Production Editor
Nadia L. Brown

Defense Trade Advisory
Group: Linda Lum

Layout Design
Paula M. Lorfano

Graphics Design
Richard E. Florence

Defense Trade News (ISSN 1051-2845) is a quarterly publication
(January, April, July, October) of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs,
U.S. Department of State. Its purpose is to provide American industry,
the public, and Congress with information on defense trade policy,
licensing practices, and compliance issues. Contents include official
policy statements and other official documents. Special features, articles,
and other materials (such as maps, charts, graphs, tables, and photo-
graphs) provide additional information on current issues but should not
necessarily be interpreted as official U.S. policy statements. The
Secretary of State has determined that the publication of this periodical
is necessary in the transaction of public business required by law.

Subscription and Address Changes: DTC Registrants — Every firm
registered with the Office of Defense Trade Controls as a manufacturer
or exporter should automatically receive this publication at its registered
address in the name of the registrant in Block 14 of Form DSP-9. To
change a mailing address, a registrant must notify the Office of Defense
Trade Controls in writing, citing its applicant code and amending Form
DSP-9 (see ITAR §122.4).

Non-Registrants — Defense Trade News is also available to U.S. govern-
ment agencies, foreign governments, non-registrant firms, and other
interested parties. To subscribe or to submit an address change, write to
Editors, Defense Trade News, PM/DTC, SA-6, Room 200, Department of
State, Washington D.C. 20522-0602, or fax (703) 875-5663.

Copyright: Unless otherwise marked, this publication’s contents are in
the public domain and are not copyrighted. Such items may be
reprinted; we would appreciate citation of Defense Trade News as the
source. You must obtain permission to reproduce any copyrighted
material (including photographs) from its original source.

Limited Reprint Authorization: DTC registrant companies may
reproduce this entire edition (excluding postal mailing label) for internal
distribution. This permission is given to ensure proper distribution
throughout firms with multiple locations, and to reduce mailing costs.

Corrections, Contributions, and Correspondence: Address to Editors,
Defense Trade News, PM/DTC, SA-6, Room 200, Department of State,
Washington, D.C. 20522-0602.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Defense Trade News, PM/DTC,
SA-6, Room 200, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20522-0602.

Postage: Third-class postage paid in Washington, D.C. 20522-0602.



U.S. Department of State

Office of Defense Trade Controls

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs aoe
Customer Satisfaction Report = ivew

Background

The Office of Defense Trade Controls (DTC)
and its modern day predecessors have admin-
istered control of international arms traffic
since the 1930’s. Our experience suggests
that--even while dealing with resource con-
straints and reductions—services might be
improved by determining what industry con-
siders to be critical, promoting innovation in
streamling processes and restructuring re-
source allocations, and evaluating perfor-
mance with realistic goals and standards.

Based on public sector response and some
introspection, DTC developed the attached
Customer Service Plan. It was officially pub-
lished in a 1994 report by the National Perfor-
mance Review, “Putting Customers First:
Standards for Servicing the American
People,” and have since been otherwise
widely disseminated. Most recently, in the
May 1996 issue of Defense Trade News and
Export Policy Bulletin (“DTN”), we requested

a private sector appraisal of the standards and
DTC’s performance in relation to them. Our
analysis of the findings can be found below.

The Public Response and Perception

* The DTC Customer Service Plan reflects the
issue that seem to matter to private industry cus-
tomers. Some 85 percent of respondents to the
Survey rated Customer Service Plan stan- ,
dards within the “good” to “excellent” range.
Very few people suggested there were any
issues that had not been addressed in the
Plan, but a number, in this connection, ex-
pressed concern about slow response times to
industry queries.

° DTC meets most of its customer service stan-
dards most of the time. About 88 percent of the
respondents said DTC meets its published

customer standards; 58 percent felt DTC per-
formance was definitively positive in this
regard. Those who felt DTC fails to meet the
threshold of its standards most often com-
plained of inattentiveness to their needs or
questions (e.g., failure to provide sufficient
details or to return telephone calls).

* DTC is strong in technical competence. More
that 98 percent of the Survey responses said.
DTC personnel assisting the public are
knowledgeable. While some unevenness in
expertise was noted, some 91 percent of the
respondents rated DTC employees as “very
knowledgeable” or “knowledgeable.”

* DTC substantive functions are generally per-
formed ina timely manner. About 82 percent of
the respondents report that DTC performed.
services related to its core functions (i.e., reg-
istration, licensing, compliance and enforce-
ment) ina timely manner. Almost 12 percent
said such services were completed “sooner
than expected.” Slow response to telephone
calls and “bureaucratic obstacles” were iden-
tified as concerns.

© DTC generally handles the public courteously.
Some 95 percent of the respondents described
the business manner of DTC personnel as
courteous and professional. Some concern
was expressed about the demeanor of a very
limited number of DTC officers and difficul-
ties experienced in speaking directly to a
given individual by telephone.

© Public perception of DTC customer service
ranks favorably in comparison with that of other
government offices. Approximately 70 percent
of respondents rated DTC customer service as
“better” than that of other government agen-
cies. Over 80 percent considered DTC cus-
tomer service to be at least equal to service