Congress should consider encouraging greater use of export controls and sanctions to counter a recent surge in the repression of political dissent abroad, hearing witnesses told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week.
Raj Parekh, a former trial attorney with DOJ’s National Security Division, is joining the Bureau of Industry and Security as the agency’s first chief of corporate enforcement, BIS announced this week. Parekh will be the “primary interface” among BIS special agents, the agency’s chief counsel office and DOJ as they work “to advance significant corporate investigations.” Parekh most recently worked as the highest-ranking career official in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued new guidance about the exclusions available under Russia-related information technology and software services restrictions that took effect Sept. 12.
The Bureau of Industry and Security could use more export enforcement agents abroad and better analytical tools to track illegal shipments, said Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official. He also said companies should expect BIS to continue to issue large corporate enforcement penalties for export control violations.
A new final rule issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security this week will codify a host of updates the agency made to its administrative enforcement policies over the past three years, including measures to help BIS more quickly resolve minor voluntary disclosures and increase penalties on exporters who choose not to report serious violations. Other changes will give BIS broader discretion to impose higher fines, including by eliminating language that had capped maximum base civil penalties for “non-egregious” violations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week updated its guidance on applying for deemed export licenses, which people or companies must obtain before sharing a controlled item, software or technology with a foreign person on U.S. soil if a license would normally be required for that person's most recent country of citizenship or permanent residence. The guidance outlines the type of information applicants must submit, the information BIS takes into account when reviewing those licenses, and the set of conditions that the agency said are “standard” for approved licenses. A list of license condition best practices includes a reminder that approved applicants must annually verify to BIS that the foreign person has a “required work authorization” or that the foreign person has left the country.
U.S. computing chip manufacturers need to do more to stem the flow of their export-controlled products to Russia’s defense industrial base, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Sept. 10.
The Georgia Institute of Technology is severing ties with China-based Tianjin University, a school added to the Bureau of Industry and Secuirty’s Entity List in 2020, saying Tianjin’s placement on the list has made their relationship “no longer tenable.”
New mandatory reporting rules proposed this week by the Bureau of Industry and Security could require developers of advanced artificial intelligence models and computing clusters to submit “detailed” information to the agency about their developmental activities, cybersecurity measures and more.
The Bureau of Industry and Security completed a round of interagency review for a proposed rule that could introduce new reporting requirements involving certain artificial intelligence technology. The rule, sent for interagency review June 5 (see 2406060036) and completed Sept. 5, could propose requirements “for the development of advanced artificial intelligence models and computing clusters.” BIS said it's planning to amend its Industrial Base Surveys Data Collections regulation by "establishing reporting requirements for the development" of these models and clusters as part of an AI executive order signed by President Joe Biden last year (see 2310300029).