dati. . ¢ | | 4 t June 1989 GAO/NSIAD-89-192 Report to'the Chairman, Subcammittee o on’ Wont * al ——— —— yO a - : . . _ vo - : atc = . ‘National Security Economics, Joint | | - Economic Committee, US. Congress FOREIGN TECHNOLOGIES | _ Efforts to Track Developments ©
Results in Brief Many Federal Agencies Track Foreign Technologies United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 National Security and International Affairs Division B-201919 June 30,1989 The Honorable Jeff Bingaman Chairman, Subcommittee on National Security Economics Joint Economic Committee United States Congress Dear Mr. Chairman: On April 10, 1989, you requested that we prepare a compendium of U.S. Government programs and activities that collect information on, moni- tor, or assess (track) foreign dual-use (commercial-military) technolo- gies. As agreed with your office, we are providing this interim report listing the agencies that we have identified that track foreign technolo- gies and our preliminary observations on the coordination of these tracking activities. We found that numerous federal agencies have programs and activities that track foreign technologies for a variety of reasons. However, based on our work to date, we could find no central source identifying all fed- eral programs and activities that track foreign technologies. Several agency officials advised us that formal coordination arnong the federal agencies that track specific technologies is limited. We identified more than 25 offices and divisions in agencies with pro- grams and activities that track foreign dual-use technologies. Appendix I contains the list we have compiled to date, exclusive of certain intelli- gence activities. A variety of federal agencies are involved in collecting information on foreign technologies, including the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Energy. The agencies use this information to assess U.S. competi- tiveness, formulate domestic and trade policy, and evaluate national security issues. For example, the Department of Commerce’s Interna- tional Trade Administration tracks foreign technologies for use in trade and domestic policy formulation, trade promotion, and gauging U.S. competitiveness. Commerce’s Bureau of Export Administration tracks foreign technology to comply with the provisions of the Export Admin- istration Act regarding assessing the foreign availability of commercial products subject to U.S. export controls. The Bureau as well as the Page | GAO/NSIAD-8$-192 Foreign Technologies
‘ i B-201919 Formal Coordination is Limited Departments of Defense and Energy track foreign technology to deter- mine which technologies should be subject to export controls. From our interviews and a review of several data bases, we could find no central source that identifies all federal activities that track foreign technologies. To develop the list in appendix I, we initially contacted agency officials known to us from our prior audit work who in turn identified other agencies that also track foreign technologies. To our knowledge, this list is not currently available elsewhere. Based on our work to date, there is apparently a lack of formal coordi- nation of activities among the various agencies that track foreign dual- use technologies. We found certain individuals whe were aware of other agencies that track foreign technologies but their mnowledge was gen- eral. The only program charged with coordinating federal tracking activities was the Japanese Technical Literature Program within the Department of Commerce. This program’s objective is to coordinate fed- eral agency activities in collecting, translating, and disseminating Japa- nese technical information. Under this program, numerous civilian and military agencies, as well as private organizations, attend quarterly interagency meetings to disseminate information. This program’s scope is limited to Japan and to date we have not found any similar programs to coordinate information for technologies tracked in other countries. Publications containing information on foreign technology are available through a cooperative interagency organization called CENDI, which consists of the following agencies. Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service. Department of Defense’s Defense Technology Information Center. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information. National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Scientific and Techni- cal Information Division. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Library of Medicine. Although CENDI does not formally coordinate federal tracking activi- ties, it develops ways to improve the productivity of federal research and development through efficient and responsive information pro- grams and improved management systems. CENDI’s programs are con- ducted by working groups on cataloging standards, indexing, and international scientific and technical information activities. Page 2 GAG/NSIAD-89-192 Foreign Technologies
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology B-201919 The Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security Economics, Joint Economic Committee, asked us to develop a compendium of fed- eral programs and activities that track foreign dual-use technologies. He asked that for each such activity we obtain information on the program objective, technologies and countries tracked, budget and staff resources, and agency products produced from the information col- lected, access to these products, and their potential application. As sub- sequently agreed with the Chairman's office, we are providing this interim report listing the federal agencies that we have identified which track foreign technologies and our preliminary observations on ccordi- nation of these tracking activities. We also agreed to limit the list to agencies that collect or generate information about foreign technologies as opposed to those that merely use information collected or generated by others. To identify federal programs and activities that track foreign dual-use technologies, we contacted agency officials known to us from our audit work in various agencies who in turn identified other agencies that also track foreign technologies. We contacted most of the identified agencies. We asked each agency to confirm that it was involved in tracking for- eign technologies and requested that it complete a data collection form. We discussed with officials of several tracking agencies the exient to which they coordinated their efforts with other agencies. We also dis- cussed coordination with an official of the Office of Management and Budget and a contractor working on technology tracking under contract to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. We conducted our work in May and June 1989 in accordance with generally accepted gov- ernment auditing standards. As agreed, we did not obtain agency comments on this report. We have, however, discussed the report with selected agencies and included their comments as appropriate. Unless you announce its contents earlier, we plan no further dissemina- tion of the report until 30 days after its issue date. At that time we will provide copies to the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Energy; the Dtvector, Office of Management and Budget; and other interested parties upon request. GAO staff members who made major contributions to this report were Steven Sternlieb, National Security and International Affairs Division, Page 3 GAO/NSIAD-89-192 Foreign Technologies
B201919 and Thomas McGrane, Boston Regional Office. If you have any ques- tions, please contact me on (202) 275-4812. Sincerely, Allan I. Mendelowitz, Director Trade, Energy, and Finance Issues Page 4 GAO/NSIAD-89-192 Foreign Technologies
Contents Letter Appendix I Agencies Identified as Tracking Dual-Use Foreign Technology Page 6 GAO/NSIAD-89-192 Foreign Technologies
Appendix |! Agencies Identified as Tracking Dual-Use Foreign Technology (483527) Department of Commerce Bureau of Export Administration Office of Foreign Availability Office of Industrial Resources Administration International Trade Administration Office of Import Administration Office of International Economic Policy Trade and Development Technology Administration National Technical Information Services Office of international Affairs Japanese Technical Literature Program Department of Defense Air Force Foreign Technology Division Air Force Office of Scientific Research - Far East Army Foreign Science and Technology Center Army Research Office Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Intelligence Agency Defense Technical Information Center European Office of Aerospace R&D - Air Force Naval Intelligence Service Center Office of Naval Research Office of the Undersecretary for Acquisition Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory National Science Foundation Division of Internationat Programs Division of Science Resources Studies National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Division Department of State Bureau of Ocean, Environment, and Scientific Affairs Page 8 GAO/NSIAD-89-192 Foreign Technologies
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