IG Calls on DOD to Bolster End-Use Monitoring

The Pentagon should improve its end-use monitoring of defense exports to Ukraine, the Defense Department's inspector general said in a new report this month.

The report, released Jan. 1, said DOD has made strides in its enhanced end‑use monitoring (EEUM) program since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but the agency is still falling short in several aspects, adding that some officials haven’t been able to conduct the required “initial inventories” on the defense items within 90 days of their arrival in Ukraine. DOD also hasn’t maintained an accurate inventory of the defense articles in a shared database with international customers, freight forwarders and other government officials.

The IG said the Pentagon “did not fully comply” with EEUM program requirements for “defense article accountability in a hostile environment.” As of June 2, serial number inventories for more than $1 billion of the total $1.7 billion of designated defense articles for Ukraine “remained delinquent,” it said. “Until the DoD resolves these challenges, it will be unable to fully comply with the” enhanced end‑use monitoring program requirements.

The report offers several recommendations to the agency, saying it should, among other things, improve inventory procedures for the items, better coordinate with the State Department to “improve visibility of third‑party transfers” of the defense items before they’re transferred and improve the “accuracy and timeliness of the inventory entries.” Pentagon officials agreed with most recommendations, including one to create procedures to “provide timely and accurate reporting before” the defense articles are shipped. “Stakeholders agreed that this recommendation can be implemented by September 2024,” the IG said.