Uncle Sam Looking for a Few Good Men (and Women)

No, not for Iraq, that’s another department. I’m talking about BIS, which seems to always be seeking new recruits for its Technical Advisory Committees (TACs). Instead of a buzz cut, M-16A2, and marksmanship training, you will be equipped with a secret-level security clearance, limited-access pass to the Herbert C. Hoover Building, and everyone’s favorite, unreimbursed travel expenses. (Unreimbursed by the feds that is, your employer really should pony up.)

BIS TACs are part of a larger network of committees established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Of the six TACs, five focus on a specific category or categories on the Commerce Control List. These sessions can get highly, um, technical, but are often quite relevant to exporters in the affected industries. Interestingly, none of the TACs seem to cover Category 0 - Nuclear Materials, Facilities, and Equipment (and Miscellaneous Items). Perhaps that’s because much of Category 0 is actually subject to the jurisdiction not of BIS, but of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission which has its own advisory committees. Or maybe the executives of Thumbscrew, Blackjack, and Leg Iron Manufacturers Association are just too busy preparing for their next medieval reenactment to demand their own TAC.

According to BIS, the sixth committee, the Regulations and Procedures TAC (RPTAC), concentrates on “procedures to implement the EAR”. That’s a pretty broad mandate and one that is difficult to elucidate further unless you attend their meetings in person (or know someone who does) because RPTAC is also the only TAC which does not routinely publish its minutes on the TAC subdomain of the BIS website (a practice which a more skeptical fellow than myself might regard as contrary to the spirit, if not the letter, of Section 10 of the FACA (pdf, page 6)). In addition to the six TACs there is the somewhat redundant body known as the President’s Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA), which BIS says advises on “the impact of technological developments on existing U.S. and foreign export controls, the foreign availability of controlled items, and related security and economic issues.”

What’s the bottom line? Is it worth your time (or, in the case of the more scientific TACs, possibly the time of your company’s engineers)? To summarize, I quote from one of my favorite online publications, the July, 2001 edition of the Aerospace Export Control Update:

“So, should you consider applying for one of the non-paying positions? The benefits are:

1. Good chance to network with government officials and industry peers;
2. Chance to impact US Government policy in a way that benefits your company (sorry, no guarantees);
3. Chance to learn up-to-date insider information on developments in export control policies, rules and procedures (although I am sure that none of the TAC or PECSEA members use such information to benefit their own companies);
4. Chance to become part of the Washington, DC export control insiders crowd; and
5. Free donuts & coffee. (Or maybe my PECSEA application was rejected due to my unceasing irreverence.)

Frankly, if you have the resources (e.g., time and money to travel to Washington for meetings), TAC or PECSEA membership can be worthwhile.”