Export License Office Cleared for Southland
Moving to cut red tape for high-tech exporters in the western United States, the Commerce Department on Thursday officially announced plans to open its first regional export license office in Southern California and also launched an electronic service to streamline the license application process.
At a news conference in Washington, Commerce Secretary C. William Verity said the export license office is scheduled to begin operation in April. It was the government’s first confirmation of such plans, which were reported last month by The Times.
California state and industry leaders have been pressuring the government for action to clear up frustrating--and costly--delays in license clearances for exports of a variety of high-technology goods to U.S. trading partners. The approvals are required to ensure that the goods do not fall into the hands of Soviet Bloc nations.
The Commerce Department’s new nationwide computerized license application system is expected to cut the processing time by two-thirds.
“It’s an important political statement as a recognition of California as a major export center, particularly for high technology. But until we see how it is implemented from a practical point of view, we have to wait and see,” said Jay Winter, executive secretary at the Foreign Trade Assn. of Los Angeles, a group of exporters and importers.
40% Apply From West
In acknowledging California as the “nation’s leader of high-technology exports,” Verity said the office was designed to give “Western firms easier access to licensing experts for counseling and other assistance.”
About 40% of the 100,000 license applications annually processed in Washington come from the West, the majority from California, according to Michael W. Liikala, chief of staff at the Bureau of Export Administration, the Commerce unit that handles export licensing.
He said the new office will be in the Orange County area because the department’s survey of ZIP codes of license applicants indicated that the biggest volume of requests were coming from the Long Beach, Santa Ana and Irvine area.
“When we looked at the number of exporters, we found for the first time in high technology, the number of exports requiring licenses were greater (in Southern California) than Northern California,” Liikala said in a telephone interview. In addition, he said, Orange County provided a more central location for North San Diego County’s emerging high-tech center.
But he added that an export license office may be added to the Silicon Valley area by fall.
Quicker Turnaround
Verity initiated the Commerce Department’s new electronic export license service by authorizing a shipment of computers to Italy by Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto with the push of a computer button at the Washington news conference.
Until Thursday, all export license applications were processed by mail, a procedure that took a minimum of 10 to 13 days. With the new service, the turnaround time is expected to be three days.
“Today, we enter the 21st Century by allowing any company with a personal computer and a modem hookup to pull up the license application on their screen, which they then fill out in their office, and push their own button to submit it to Commerce, which will send back decision electronically,” Liikala said.
He said an exporter must apply to the department to get a personal identification number to connect with the electronic application system.
