State Department Relaxes License Approval Policy for Indonesia
December 2001
In the December 18, 2001 Federal Register the he Office of Defense Trade Controls (ODTC) in the State Department has announced a new license review policy for Indonesia. Under the new policy, ODTC will review license/agreement request for the following on a case-by-case basis.
- Non-lethal defense articles and spare parts
- Non-lethal, safety-of-use spare parts for lethal end items.
ODTC said that examples of safety-of-use spares for lethal end items would include cartridge actuated devices, propellant actuated devices, and technical manuals for military aircraft for purposes of enhancing the safety of the aircraft crew.
ODTC defines “non-lethal defense articles” as “an article that is not a weapon, ammunition or other equipment or material that is designed to inflict serious bodily harm of death.”
In October 1999, ODTC suspended all licenses and approvals for Indonesia except for certain commercial communication satellites and Y2K activities not destined for the military in response to the unrest in the country. ODTC relaxed this policy twice in 2001: In January it announced a policy of case-by-case review for spare parts for C-130 aircraft and in March it announced a case-by-case review policy for items exported to Indonesia for ultimate end-use in a third country.
By implementing a “case-by-case review” policy, ODTC is saying that it will not automatically deny licenses, but will review them on their merits.
ODTC gave no reason for relaxing its Indonesia policy, but we suspect the new policy is a reward for Indonesia’s cooperation in the aftermath of the September 11 attack-a reward we predicted in our newsletter in September.
