U.S. Depts of State and Commerce Increase Understanding of Defense Export Controls

(from left) Benjamin Miller, Thomas DeFee, Pete Walker, Rola Hariri, Dr. Judd Stitziel, Meredith Sundlof, Nadia De Pietro, Alexandre Leuba, and Chad Leezer.
(from left) Benjamin Miller, Thomas DeFee, Pete Walker, Rola Hariri, Dr. Judd Stitziel, Meredith Sundlof, Nadia De Pietro, Alexandre Leuba, and Chad Leezer.

On Tuesday, April 19, Dr. Judd Stitziel, State Department Office of Defense Trade Controls Policy, led a joint U.S. State Department and U.S. Commerce Department team to headline the second annual defense export control seminar in Bern, Switzerland. The seminar, run in conjunction with Switzerland’s Federal Department of Economic Affairs (SECO) and Switzerland’s largest manufacturing association (SwissMem), addressed a wide range of defense export control themes: export control reform, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) licensing requirements, defense article re-exports, and end-use monitoring. Following the seminar, delegation members participated in high-level meetings with Swiss government officials. Delegation members also visited a number of Swiss defense manufacturing facilities, including RUAG’s state-of-the-art Ammotec facility in Thun.