The EXBS Program: Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance

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The Proliferation Threat

Today, the proliferation threat is more diverse and increasingly difficult to counter. Goods and technologies with sensitive military applications frequently have legitimate commercial applications as well. Weapons proliferators know this and cleverly mask their acquisitions as innocent business transactions to deceive government officials and legitimate businesses.

As a result of increased economic interaction and advances in information and communications technology, it is now easier than ever to transfer sensitive technology and know-how to the far reaches of the globe -- and more difficult than ever to monitor or control such transfers.

The Response: The EXBS Program

Export Controls are on the front line of U.S. efforts to combat the proliferation threat. On September 23, 2003, President Bush called on all members of the UN General Assembly to criminalize WMD proliferation, and to:

“Enact strict export controls consistent with international standards, and to secure any and all sensitive materials within their own borders. The United States stands ready to help any nation draft these new laws, and to assist in their enforcement.”

The Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance (or “EXBS”) program is the United States Government’s premier initiative to help other countries improve their export control systems. The EXBS program:

• is led and funded by the Department of State’s Bureau of Nonproliferation, Office of Export Control Cooperation;
• draws on expertise from the Departments of State, Homeland Security, Commerce, Energy, Defense, and the private sector to provide a range of legal, licensing, and enforcement training and equipment;
• operated with a budget of $36 million in fiscal year 2003 (up from just $3 million in fiscal year 1998) with funds for programs in over 40 countries; and
• has placed 20 dedicated Program Advisors at U.S. Embassies to help coordinate and implement the program.

The Office of Export Control Cooperation also chairs an interagency group to coordinate all U.S. Government export control assistance programs.

The EXBS Program in Action

The EXBS program’s original focus was on the WMD “source countries” in the Former Soviet Union (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan). To address the changes in the proliferation threat, the program has broadened to include states on potential smuggling routes in Eastern and Central Europe, the Balkans, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, as well as to potential “source countries” in South Asia and countries with major transshipment hubs in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

The EXBS program has helped countries around the world improve their ability to prevent and interdict shipments of dangerous items and technologies by providing a wide variety of practical assistance tailored to each individual country’s needs. Examples of recent activities and successes exhibit the program’s efforts in five core areas.

Laws and Regulations:

• Helped several countries in the Former Soviet Union draft and implement new comprehensive export control laws.

Licensing:

• Trained Baltic officials that went on to deny licenses for shipments to suspicious end-users in countries of concern.

Enforcement:

• Provided training and equipment that have helped Central and Eastern European governments apprehend stolen radioactive material and sensitive goods.
  
  
• Provided Malta with sophisticated x-ray equipment to screen cargo at its major transshipment port.

Government-Industry Cooperation:

• Launched an ambitious program to provide software and training to Russian industry to help it comply with Russia’s export control process.

Interagency Cooperation Coordination:

• Conducted joint vehicle inspection training for Pakistani Customs and border guard personnel at a U.S.-Mexico border crossing.

The EXBS program also takes a regional and multilateral approach to help harmonize national export control systems with international standards and facilitate information-sharing agreements among nations. The program also organizes a number of regional fora to bring national policymakers and technical experts together, including the following:

• Central Asia and Caucusus Nonproliferation Export Control Forum, June 2003, Almaty, Kazakhstan;
• Global Transshipment Control Enforcement Seminar, July 2003, Sydney, Australia; and
• Fifth International Conference on Export Controls, September 2003, Budapest, Hungary.

Contact the EXBS Program

• The State Department, Office of Export Control Cooperation’s Director is Paul van Son: (202) 647-0224, VanSonPB@state.gov. The Deputy Director is Andrew Church: ChurchAP@t.state.gov.
• The State Department, Bureau of Nonproliferation website is www.state.gov/t/np.
• The EXBS program sponsors a website: www.exportcontrol.org.