The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection relating to offset agreements worth more than $5 million for sales of weapons systems or defense articles to foreign countries or companies. BIS said it defines offsets as “compensation practices required as a condition of purchase in either government-to-government or commercial sales of defense articles.” Comments on the information collection are due March 15.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week revoked export privileges for four residents of Texas who illegally exported defense items or weapons ammunition to Mexico.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to declarations to the Chemical Weapons Convention, according to a notice. BIS said each CWC member must make “initial and annual declarations on certain facilities” that produce, import or export certain toxic chemicals and their precursors. Facilities subject to inspection by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons must also submit certain information. Comments are due March 14.
The Bureau of Industry and Security delayed the effective date of its new export controls over certain cybersecurity items (see 2110200036) after receiving requests from industry, the agency said in a notice released Jan. 11. The controls, which were scheduled to take effect Jan. 19, were delayed for 45 days and will now take effect March 7.
If not properly tailored, export controls on brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies could stifle U.S. competitiveness and slow academic research, tech companies and universities told the Bureau of Industry and Security in comments released this month. While some commenters said certain narrow, multilateral controls may be feasible, others said BIS should avoid controls altogether to avoid impeding U.S. innovation.
The Census Bureau will make several changes to the Automated Export System to accommodate the Commerce Department’s new Authorized Cybersecurity Exports (ACE) license exception, Census said in a Jan. 7 email. Among the changes, the agency will add new Export Control Classification Numbers 4A005 and 4D004 and will create new License Code C64 for the ACE exception.
In their first official statements at the Bureau of Industry and Security, the agency’s two newest export control officials singled out China and Russia and said they plan to prioritize enforcement work involving human rights.
The Bureau of Industry and Security extended the comment period for an information collection relating to transfers of export licenses, the agency said in a notice. Export licenses can be transferred under “certain circumstances,” the agency said, such as company mergers or takeovers that “necessitate the transfer of an active export license from one party to another.” Comments were previously due Dec. 20 (see 2110180009), but BIS said it will allow for an additional 30 days. Comments are now due by Feb. 7.
Thea Kendler, President Joe Biden’s choice to be the Bureau of Industry and Security's assistant secretary for export administration, was officially sworn in to her position, BIS said this week. The agency said Kendler will lead Export Administration’s “highly trained technical professionals” in controlling dual-use and military exports, analyzing the impact of those export controls and supporting the U.S. defense industrial base. She also will chair the Advisory Committee on Export Policy, which resolves interagency policy disputes on export license applications submitted to BIS. The Senate confirmed Kendler in December (see 2112150009).
The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed its temporary export control on certain artificial intelligence software as it prepares to make the classification permanent, BIS said in a notice. The temporary control -- first issued in January 2020 (see 2001030024), extended last year (see 2101050018) and renewed for a second time this week -- placed unilateral restrictions on geospatial imagery software by adding it to the 0Y521 Temporary Export Control Classification Numbers Series. The latest one-year renewal is effective Jan. 6.