The MNNA Fact Sheet

President Bush publicly announced the designation of Thailand as a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) on October19, 2003 during his State Visit to the Kingdom of Thailand. The Departments of State and Defense had notifiedCongress of the intent to designate Thailand in early October 2003.

Background Information: MNNA Status does not entail the same mutual defense and security guaranteesafforded to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members. However, designation of Thailand as an MNNArepresents an affirmation of the importance the US places on the US-Thai alliance relationship in the 21stcentury. Thailand has been a treaty ally of the United States for nearly 50 years, since the 1954 Manila Pact.The alliance partnership has continued to expand over the years. Recently, Thailand has made importantcounterterrorism contributions and has sent troops to coalition efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

(MNNA) Definitions: U.S. legislation creates two categories of MNNA status. The first category is underTitle 10 U.S Code Section 2350a (Nunn Amendment of 1987). The Second is under Section 517 of the ForeignAssistance Act of 1961, as amended (FAA) (title 22, USC Section 2321k).

Title 10 U.S. Code Section 2350a authorizes the Secretary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Secretaryof State, to designate MNNAs for purposes of participating with the Department of Defense (DOD) in cooperativeresearch and development programs. Israel, Egypt, Japan, Australia, and the Republic of Korea were given MNNAdesignation under Title 10 in 1987, followed by Jordan (1996), Argentina (1998), New Zealand and Bahrain(2002), and the Philippines and Thailand (2003).

Designation under this provision:

• Permits firms of the country to bid on certain USG contracts for maintenance, repair or overhaul of DODequipment outside the Continental US. (10 USC 2349)
  
  
• Makes a country eligible for certain joint counterterrorism research & development projects. (22 USC2349a-10(b); PL 104-132 sec. 328(b)
  
  
• Allows DOD to enter into cooperative R&D projects with the country to improve conventional defensecapabilities on an equitable cost-sharing basis. (10 USC sec 2350a)

Section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, authorizes the President to designate acountry as a MNNA after 30-days notification to Congress, for purposes of the FAA and the Arms Export ControlAct (AECA). The statute, enacted in 1996, initially designated Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, the Republicof Korea, and New Zealand as MNNAs. Subsequently, Jordan (1996), Argentina (1998), Bahrain (2002), and thePhilippines and Thailand (2003) have also been designated as MNNAs under this provision.

Designation under this provision:

• Makes a nation eligible, to the maximum extent feasible, for priority delivery of excess defense articlesif it is on the South or Southeastern flank of NATO. (FAA §516)
  
  
• Makes a nation eligible to buy depleted uranium ammunition. (FAA §620G)
  
  
• Makes the country eligible to have U.S.-owned War Reserve Stockpiles on its territory outside of U.S.military installations. (FAA §514) )]. [Note: The US closed down a previously existing War Reserve Stockpile,established in 1987, in 2002, and transferred the remaining munitions to Thai ownership.]
  
  
• Allows the country to enter into agreements with the USG for the cooperative furnishing of training on abilateral or multilateral basis under reciprocal financial arrangements that may exclude reimbursement forindirect costs and certain other charges. (AECA §21(g))
  
  
• Allows the country to use U.S. provided Foreign Military Financing for commercial leasing of certaindefense articles. (Section 589 of the FY01 Foreign Operations Appropriation Act, Public Law 106-429)
  
  
• Makes a country eligible for loans of materials, supplies and equipment for cooperative R&D projectsand testing and evaluation. (AECA §65)
  
  
• Makes a country eligible for expedited processing of export licenses of commercial satellites, theirtechnologies, components, and systems. (Section 1309 of the James W. Nance and Meg Donovan Foreign RelationsAuthorization Act, Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001, Public Law 106-113)

MNNA designation under section 517 of the FAA can be terminated at the discretion of the President with 30days notice to the Congress, but no specific criteria or precedents exist regarding termination.