BIS Final Rule Amends EAR Language on Dual-Use Goods Pursuant to Wassenaar Arrangement
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule Sept. 20 aligning the Commerce Control List (CCL) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) with changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement’s List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies during the December 2015 Wassenaar Plenary Meeting (here). Goods in CCL Category 1 (special materials and related equipment, chemicals, “microorganisms” and “toxins”) sustained 12 revisions, more than any other category, altogether composing 58 total changes, while Category 5-Part 1 (“Telecommunications”) added Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) 5A003 (“Systems,” “equipment,” and “components,” for non-cryptographic “information security”), and 5A004 (“Systems,” “equipment,” and “components” for defeating, weakening, or bypassing “information security”).
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Other changes include newly granted license exceptions for shipments of limited value (LVS), and shipments to “Country Group B” (GBS) and civil-end users (CIV) for ECCN 3A002.h (Electronic assemblies, modules, or equipment that perform analog-to-digital conversions), as well as new license exception eligibility for U.S. government exporters (GOV) of ECCN 5A003, and for temporary exports, re-exports, and in-country transfers of ECCN 5E002 (“Technology”). The final rule also eliminated the GOV license exception for the former ECCN 5A002.a.2, which is now 5A004. Further, the rule removed from the CCL ECCNs 3B001.c (Anisotropic plasma dry etching equipment), 4A003.e (Equipment performing analog-to-digital conversions exceeding the limits in 3A001.a.5), and 8A002.e (Photographic still cameras specially designed or modified for underwater use below 150 meters, with a film format of 35 millimeters or larger [and incorporating certain elements]).
BIS also updated EAR information security sections. BIS through the rule deleted the encryption registration requirement from the EAR for certain goods under certain ECCNs, including 5A002 (“Information security” systems, equipment and “components”), 5B002 (“Information security” test, inspection and “production” equipment), and 5D002 (“Software”). But exporters who self-classify encryption products under EAR Section 740.17(b)(1) are still required to send yearly self-classification reports, BIS said. The rule took effect on its publication date, Sept. 20, because of national security and international export harmonization considerations, BIS said.
(Federal Register 09/20/16)