The Bureau of Industry and Security recently expanded its commodity classification request process to include the Department of Defense, which is expected to slightly increase processing times and potentially require more thorough submissions of classification requests, an agency official said. The Defense Department began participating in the process late last year as part of BIS’s implementation of the 2018 Export Control Reform Act, said John Varesi, an official in BIS’s Sensors and Aviation Division. ECRA “required that there would be an interagency effort in terms of the commodity classifications,” Varesi said during a March 2 Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee meeting. “This is basically the implementation of that requirement.”
The U.S. sanctioned a host of Russian officials and agencies, will add 14 entities to the Entity List and will increase restrictions on exports of military-related goods to Russia in response to the poisoning and imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The increased export controls will also remove certain license exceptions for shipments to Russia and will impose stricter license review policies for certain sensitive goods, the State Department said March 2.
Apple last week introduced a new ethics and compliance webpage, featuring a detailed outline of its trade compliance policies surrounding export controls and sanctions. A table of all Apple products provides their respective Export Control Classification Numbers and which destinations are blocked from receiving Apple products. The company said all its products qualify as mass market products and are subject to the Export Administration Regulations but are not controlled as dual-use goods by the Wassenaar Arrangement. Apple said some of its goods may be eligible for the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Iranian General License No. D1 and Bureau of Industry and Security license exceptions related to Cuba. OFAC fined Apple about $465,000 in November 2019 after the company hosted, sold and helped transfer software applications and content belonging to a sanctioned company (see 1911250064).
The Commerce Department on Feb. 26 announced three new staffing appointments to the Bureau of Industry and Security. Steven Emme, a former Akin Gump trade counsel, was named chief of staff; Sahar Hafeez, a former Pillsbury Winthrop trade lawyer, was named senior adviser to the BIS undersecretary; and Feras Sleiman, a former policy adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was named BIS's congressional affairs specialist.
The State Department is expected to follow through with a rule that would permanently revise the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to allow employees involved in ITAR-related activity to work remotely. The rule, crafted under the Trump administration, was sent for interagency review in December but was withdrawn in January as part of the Biden administration's regulatory freeze on the previous administration’s pending regulations (see 2101210013).
The Bureau of Industry and Security's effort to control emerging and foundational technologies is creating “substantial uncertainty” in the technology sector, Microsoft President Brad Smith told the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 23, according to his prepared testimony. Smith urged BIS and the Commerce Department to create a “balanced and coherent framework” to protect U.S. technologies without “isolating” U.S. companies, including from working with China.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began a review of a final Bureau of Industry and Security rule that will amend the Export Administration Regulations to expand controls on Myanmar. OIRA received the rule Feb. 23. BIS recently announced increased restrictions on exports to Myanmar, including a more strict licensing policy and the suspension of certain license exceptions (see 2102170005).
A judge with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas declined to allow the state of Texas to voluntarily drop a civil forfeiture lawsuit over goods seized by a local law enforcement group that aims to stop illegal exports. The state will continue litigation in a similar case in front of the same court. The federal government isn't a party in either case.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued orders temporarily denying export privileges for two people involved in illegal exports. Jesse Rodriguez was convicted Jan. 16, 2019, of helping to sell controlled ammunition -- including .223 and 7.62 caliber ammunition -- from the U.S., BIS said in a Feb. 19 order. Rodriguez was sentenced to 30 months in prison, one year of supervised release and a $100 assessment. BIS denied Rodriguez’s export privileges for five years from the date of conviction. Fahad Saleem Kharbey was convicted May 31, 2019, of illegally exporting controlled firearms and magazines from the U.S. to the United Arab Emirates, BIS said in another Feb. 19 order. Kharbey was sentenced to 36 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $200 assessment. BIS denied Kharbey’s export privileges for seven years from the date of conviction.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Feb. 19 issued a new set of frequently asked questions and revised another set of FAQs to provide guidance on export and record-keeping requirements for shipments to Hong Kong and China. The new guidance explains how exports destined to Hong Kong are treated under the Export Administration Regulations, what license exceptions are still available and whether certain goods require a license. The revised set of FAQs covers record-keeping requirements for those exports. The guidance came about two months after BIS removed Hong Kong as a separate destination from China under the EAR (see 2012220053) and after its July suspension of certain license exceptions for exports to Hong Kong (see Ref:2006300050]).