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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 section 525 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.
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