Excess Defense Articles (EDA) are defined in the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) as amended, section 644(g), as:
“…the quantity of defense
articles (other than construction equipment, including tractors, scrapers,
loaders, graders, bulldozers, dump trucks, generators, and compressors) owned
by the United States Government, and not procured in anticipation of military
assistance or sales requirements, or pursuant to a military assistance or sales
order, which is in excess of the Approved Force Acquisition Objective and
Approved Force Retention Stock of all Department of Defense Components at the
time such articles are dropped from inventory by the supplying agency for
delivery to countries or international organizations under this Act. “
The Military
Departments determine what is or is not excess, and after surveying
requirements by potential recipient countries, recommend an allocation of
excess assets to the EDA Coordinating Committee. The Committee, co-chaired by
Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Department of State/PM-RSAT, with
representatives from the Department of Commerce and regional and functional
policy offices in the Department of Defense, agree on a final allocation of the
articles. Equipment which has been transferred from the Military Departments to
the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS), is also available for
transfer through the EDA program if an eligible foreign government makes known
its requirements for the equipment.
EDA is
offered either at reduced or no cost to eligible foreign recipients on an
"as is, where is" basis. The foreign recipients, in most cases, are
responsible for the costs of packing, handling, and transportation, as well as
any restorative work and follow on support. Foreign recipients may purchase
such services from the Department of Defense through the Foreign Military Sales
(FMS) program.
The
Department of Defense is authorized by law to transfer excess defense articles
to foreign governments under the following authorities:
· Section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, authorizes grant transfers of lethal and non-lethal EDA to countries which receipt of such articles were justified to Congress for the fiscal year in which the transfer is authorized.
· EDA may also be sold to foreign countries under the normal FMS system authorized by the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). When EDA is sold, the price is a percentage of the original acquisition value, based on age and condition and ranges between 5% to 50% of the original acquisition.
· These transfers are notified under relevant sections of the annual Foreign Operation and Appropriation Act and are shown as 546 transfers in the system.
Prior to 21
July 1996, the following four authorities were used to transfer EDA on a grant
basis:
· Section 516 of the FAA (also known as the Southern Region Amendment or SRA) authorizes grant transfers of lethal and non-lethal EDA to certain allies along NATO's southern and southeastern flanks and to certain Persian Gulf Conflict coalition partners for defense modernization purposes.
· Eligible countries include Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman, and Senegal. Pakistan would also have been eligible if Pressler Amendment sanctions were removed. Countries eligible to receive EDA under section 517 were ineligible to receive EDA under sections 516.
· Section 517 of the FAA, authorized grant EDA transfers for counter-narcotics purposes to major drug producing or transit countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
· Section 518 of the FAA, authorized grant transfers of non-lethal EDA and small arms to countries for promotion of biodiversity and natural resource conservation.
·
Section
519 of the FAA, authorized the grant transfers of non-lethal EDA for defense
modernization purposes to those countries justified for Foreign Military
Financing (FMF); under the Freedom Support Act, to Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania; and other countries so justified to Congress.
All grant recipients must
sign agreements pursuant to Section 505 of the FAA agreeing to end use
restrictions and giving the U.S. first right to proceeds of any sale.
Information on classified
transfers have been removed from this database, as has information on potential
offers which have not yet been notified to Congress. Prior to notification, to
Congress, the decision to provide EDA is not yet final and disclosure of
potential offers is not possible.
The following information on
each notified transfer is available:
·
The
recipient country
·
The
item(s) to be transferred and the quantity of each
·
The
implementing agency for each transfer (Army, Navy, Air Force, or the Defense
Logistics Agency (DLA) for transfers made through DRMS).
·
The
notified acquisition value and current value of the equipment. For grants, the
current value is the value at which the equipment would be sold through FMS if
it was not being granted.
·
The
status of the transfer (notified to Congress, notification period complete, or
implementing agency authorized to transfer) and the date of the latest status
change.
DSCA is currently working
with the Military Departments and DLA on the process for automated uploading of
information on acceptance, rejection, and delivery into this database.
Information will include the quantity accepted, rejected, or delivered and the
date of acceptance, rejection or delivery. DSCA additionally provides an EDA Bulletin Board for
U.S. industry notifying them of EDA transfers that have been notified to
Congress.
See Organization Chart: Program
Support Directorate
Back to Military Assistance