Engler appointed to new advisory committee on export controls

By Plant Engineering Staff September 21, 2006

NAM president John Engler has been appointed by Carlos Gutierrez, Commerce Secretary, to the Department of Commerce’s new Advisory Committee on Deemed Export Controls.

The advisory panel will develop recommendations for improving regulations governing the export of knowledge that occurs when foreign nationals work on controlled technologies in the U.S. It is comprised of individuals with backgrounds in business, academia and security. Staffing will be handled by the Office of National Security and Technology Transfer Controls, a division of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. The panel is chartered for one year and has a mandate to consider a broad range of issues. The Administration will consider the committee’s recommendations in deciding whether current rules on so-called‘deemed exports’ need to be revised.

Creation of the advisory group stemmed from 2004 findings of Commerce’s Office of Inspector General that current policies could enable foreign nationals to gain access to otherwise controlled technologies.