that if the final day for a required action falls on a
weekend or holiday, that action shall be taken no
later than the following business day.
(5) RELIABILITY
OF
PARTIES.—In reviewing
applications for export licenses, the Secretary may in
each case consider the reliability of the parties to the
proposed export. In making such an evaluation, the
Secretary may consider all sources of information,
including results of other United States Government
actions, such as actions by the Committee on For-
eign Investment in the United States, investigations
of diversions from authorized end uses or end users,
and intelligence information, except that the consid-
eration of such information in connection with the
evaluation of the reliability of parties shall not au-
thorize the direct or indirect disclosure of classified
information or sources and methods of gathering
classified information and shall not confer a right on
private parties to have access to classified informa-
tion.
(b) INITIAL SCREENING.—
(1) UPON RECEIPT OF APPLICATION.—Upon re-
ceipt of an export license application, the Secretary
shall enter and maintain in the records of the De-
partment of Commerce information regarding the re-
ceipt and status of the application.
(2) INITIAL PROCEDURES.—Promptly upon re-
ceiving any license application, the Secretary shall—
(A) contact the applicant if the application
is improperly completed or if additional infor-
mation is required, and hold the application for
a reasonable time while the applicant provides
the necessary corrections or information, and
such time shall not be included in calculating
the time periods prescribed in this section;
(B) refer the application, including all in-
formation submitted by the applicant, and all
necessary recommendations and analyses by the
Secretary to the Department of Defense and
other departments and agencies identified by
the President under subsection (a)(2); and
(C) ensure that the classification stated on
the application for the export items is correct,
return the application if a license is not re-
quired, and, if referral to other departments or
agencies is not required, grant the application
or notify the applicant of the Secretary’s intent
to deny the application.
In the event that the head of a department or agen-
cy determines that certain types of applications need
not be referred to the department or agency, such
department or agency head shall notify the Sec-
retary of the specific types of such applications that
the department or agency does not wish to review.
(c) ACTION BY OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGEN-
CIES.—
(1) REFERRAL TO OTHER AGENCIES.—The Sec-
retary shall promptly refer license applications to de-
partments and agencies under subsection (b) to
make recommendations and provide information to
the Secretary.
(2) RESPONSIBILITY
OF
REFERRAL
AGEN-
CIES.—The Department of Defense and other re-
viewing departments and agencies shall organize
their resources and units to plan for the prompt and
expeditious internal dissemination of export license
applications, if necessary, so as to avoid delays in re-
sponding to the referral of applications.
(3) ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
REQUESTS.—
Each department or agency to which a license appli-
cation is referred shall specify to the Secretary any
information that is not in the application that would
be required for the department or agency to make
a determination with respect to the application, and
the Secretary shall promptly request such informa-
tion from the applicant. The time that may elapse
between the date the information is requested by
that department or agency and the date the infor-
mation is received by that department or agency
shall not be included in calculating the time periods
prescribed in this section.
(4) TIME PERIOD FOR ACTION BY REFERRAL
DEPARTMENTS
AND
AGENCIES.—Within 30 days
after receiving a referral of an application under this
section, the department or agency concerned shall
provide the Secretary with a recommendation either
to approve the license or to deny the license. A rec-
ommendation that the Secretary deny a license shall
include a statement of reasons for the recommenda-
tion that are consistent with the provisions of this
title, and shall cite both the specific statutory and
the regulatory basis for the recommendation. A de-
partment or agency that fails to provide a rec-
ommendation in accordance with this paragraph
within that 30-day period shall be deemed to have
no objection to the decision of the Secretary on the
application.
(d) INTERAGENCY RESOLUTION.—
(1) INITIAL RESOLUTION.—The Secretary shall
establish, select the chairperson of, and determine
procedures for an interagency committee to review
initially all license applications on which the depart-
ments and agencies reviewing the applications under
this section are not in agreement. The chairperson
of such committee shall consider the recommenda-
tions of the departments and agencies reviewing a
particular application and inform them of his or her
decision on the application, which may include a de-
cision that the particular application requires further
consideration under the procedures established
under paragraph (2). An application may also be re-
ferred to further consideration under the procedures
established under paragraph (2) if an appeal from
the chairperson’s decision is made in writing by an
official of the department or agency concerned who
is appointed by the President by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, or an officer properly
acting in such capacity.
(2) FURTHER
RESOLUTION.—The President
shall establish a process for the further review and
determination of export license applications pursuant
to a decision by the chairperson under paragraph (1)
or an appeal by a department or agency under para-
graph (1). Such process shall—
(A) be chaired by the Secretary or his or
her designee;
(B) ensure that license applications are re-
solved or referred to the President no later than
90 days after the date the license application is
initially received by the Secretary;
(C) provide that a department or agency
dissenting from the decision reached under sub-
paragraph (B) may appeal the decision to the
President; and
(D) provide that a department or agency
that fails to take a timely position, citing the
specific statutory and regulatory bases for a de-
nial, shall be deemed to have no objection to the
pending decision.
(e) ACTIONS BY THE SECRETARY IF APPLICATION
DENIED.—In cases where the Secretary has determined
that an application should be denied, the applicant shall
be informed in writing of—
(1) the determination to deny;
(2) the specific statutory and regulatory bases
for the proposed denial;
(3) what, if any, modifications in or restrictions
on the items for which the license was sought would
allow such export to be compatible with export con-
trols imposed under this title, and which officer or
employee of the Department of Commerce would be
in a position to discuss modifications or restrictions
with the applicant and the specific statutory and
regulatory bases for imposing such modifications or
restrictions;
(4) to the extent consistent with the national
security and foreign policy of the United States, the
specific considerations that led to the determination
to deny the application; and
(5) the availability of appeal procedures.
The Secretary shall allow the applicant 20 days to
respond to the determination before the license ap-
plication is denied.
(f) EXCEPTIONS FROM REQUIRED TIME PERIODS.—
The following actions related to processing an application
shall not be included in calculating the time periods pre-
scribed in this section:
(1) AGREEMENT OF THE APPLICANT.—Delays
upon which the Secretary and the applicant mutu-
ally agree.