United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-11-09 monographic deposited born digital 37 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-32 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-32 P0b002ee18038ce04 f:d0132 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-32 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-32 GAO-01-32 Inventory control systems Military inventories Property disposal Property losses Federal property management Internal controls Accountability Reporting requirements Surplus federal property Military withdrawal Panama Canal DOD In-transit Accountability System Letter Report

The Panama Canal Treaty called for the United States to transfer control over the Panama Canal to Panama and withdraw U.S. military forces and equipment from Panama. The treaty allowed the U.S. government to remove or dispose of all equipment and supplies acquired by U.S. forces. U.S. plans for withdrawal from Panama required excess property to be processed using disposal procedures that gave the military services and the federal agencies the first opportunity to receive the property. During 1998 and 1999, the Department of Defense's (DOD) Panama disposal office processed excess property valued at $136.7 million. Of this amount, $691,000 worth of property (less than one percent) was unaccounted for during this time period. Disposal office records show that the property was written off as lost. DOD recognizes the need to properly manage and account for its assets and is working on a long-term strategy to provide in-transit control and visibility over excess property through information technology. DOD also has developed a new lesson segment for training its personnel on control procedures, but it has not taken sufficient steps to ensure that the appropriate field personnel have received the training. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-32/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-32.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-32/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-32.pdf GAO-01-32 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-32 Letter Report GAO-01-32; Defense Inventory: Most Excess Property in Panama Was; Inventory control systems Military inventories Property disposal Property losses Federal property management Internal controls Accountability Reporting requirements Surplus federal property Military withdrawal Panama Canal DOD In-transit Accountability System Title 10 Section 2547 10 U.S.C. 2547 Title 22 Section 2358 22 U.S.C. 2358 Title 40 Section 471 Title 40 Section 472 Title 40 Section 512 40 U.S.C. 471 40 U.S.C. 472 40 U.S.C. 512