The multilateral Nuclear Suppliers Group met last week for the first time in more than a year to discuss export controls over nuclear weapons, the Iran nuclear deal, nonproliferation trade restrictions and more. The 48 member countries proposed updates to NSG export control lists and tapped a U.S. official to be a new group chair. Last year’s plenary was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. security equipment manufacturer $140,000 for illegally exporting stun guns, police batons, handcuffs and pepper spray to countries in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, BIS said in a June 23 order. The company, Florida-based Skyline USA, also violated Export Administration Regulations recordkeeping requirements for the exports, which were shipped to Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. The exports, sent during 2014 to 2016, were worth about $50,000.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began a review of a final Bureau of Industry and Security rule that would control certain types of deuterium under the Export Administration Regulations. The rule, received by OIRA June 16, will control deuterium that is intended for use “other than in a nuclear reactor or nuclear facility.” BIS mentioned the rule in its spring regulatory agenda, saying it is meant to transfer licensing jurisdiction over exports of certain deuterium from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to BIS (see 2106140034).
The Bureau of Industry and Security's decision to add five more Chinese companies to the Entity List (see 2106230004) is part of a “government-wide effort” under the Biden administration to take “strong action” against China’s human rights violations against Muslim minority groups, the Commerce Department said June 24. The move, which increased the total number of parties “implicated” by the U.S. in Xinjiang human rights abuses to 53, will restrict their ability to access commodities, software and technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations, Commerce said. “As we made clear during this month’s G7 summit, the United States is committed to employing all of its tools, including export controls, to ensure that global supply chains are free from the use of forced labor and technology is not misused to abuse human rights,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “The Commerce Department will continue to take firm, decisive action to hold China and other perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to certain “rarely used” short supply activities, the agency said in a notice. The first activity allows U.S. agricultural exporters to register for exemptions from “short supply limitations on export,” and the second activity includes a petition to impose monitoring or controls on recyclable metallic materials. Under the EAR, BIS said U.S.-origin agricultural goods purchased “by or for use in a foreign country and stored” in the U.S. to be later exported may voluntarily be registered with BIS “for exemption from any quantitative limitations on export that may subsequently be imposed under the EAR for reasons of short supply.” BIS previously requested comments Jan. 15 and is extending the comment period for an additional 30 days. Comments are now due by July 26.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added five Chinese companies to the Entity List for their involvement in the government’s human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region, the agency said in a final rule. For each of the entities, BIS will impose a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The final rule takes effect June 24.
CBP’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee released a partial version of its Export Modernization White Paper, which is meant to serve as a “strategy and roadmap” for the future of the export process (see 2106180025). The paper, presented by the Secure Trade Lanes Subcommittee’s Export Modernization Work Group during a June 23 meeting, includes information on the responsibilities of parties in the export process, where data “actually” originates, who owns the data, how it should be used for export enforcement and more.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will on June 24 add five Chinese companies to the Entity List for their involvement in the government’s human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region. For each of the entities, BIS will impose a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. Items classified under several Export Control Classification Numbers will be subject to a case-by-case review policy, but all other exports will be subject to a presumption of denial. No license exceptions will be available.
CBP’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee will receive several export modernization recommendations in a white paper expected to be presented during the COAC’s June 23 meeting (see 2106070033), the group said. The “Export Operations for the 21st Century” white paper, presented by the Secure Trade Lanes Subcommittee’s Export Modernization Work Group, will “lay out a strategy and roadmap for the next phase of the export process.” It will also outline where export data “actually originates,” who owns that data and how it should be used for export enforcement, the subcommittee said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a Portland-based forwarding company $20,000 after the company illegally exported rifle scopes to the United Arab Emirates and China. The company, USGoBuy, LLC, exported more than $1,200 worth of scopes controlled for crime control reasons without their required licenses, BIS said in a June 17 order. Along with the penalties, USGoBuy also agreed to conduct an external audit of its export compliance program.