The Department of State published its spring 2019 regulatory agenda. The agenda includes a new mention of a proposal to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to include definitions for "activities that are not exports, re-exports, or retransfers." The activities include "launching items into space; providing technical data to U.S. persons within the United States or within a single country abroad; and moving a defense article between the states, possessions, and territories of" the U.S., State said. The proposal also "removes from ITAR licensing requirements the electronic transmission and storage of unclassified technical data via foreign communications infrastructure when the data is secured sufficiently to prevent access by foreign persons." Under the proposal, State would also amend the ITAR to create definitions for “access information” and revise definitions of release to include “the improper provision of access information to foreign persons.” State is aiming to issue the proposal in September, it said.
The agenda also includes a rule that would revise Categories I, II and III of the U.S. Munitions List to include items that gives the U.S. a “critical military or intelligence advantage or otherwise warrant control at the highest level.” The rule states that exports of “commercially available firearms and ammunition,” removed from Category I and III, will continue to be controlled under the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Commerce Control List. State said the transition from the Munitions List to the CCL “will result in a net reduction in regulatory burden for the affected manufacturing and export community.” State aims to issue the rule in May 2019, it said.
The Department of Commerce published its spring 2019 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security. The agenda continues to mention an upcoming a long-awaited proposed rulemaking involving parties’ responsibilities under the Export Administration Regulations in a routed export transaction, saying the proposal will be published in May 2019. Sharron Cook, a senior policy export analyst for BIS, said in April the rule change will help solve some of the bigger frustrations with the current regulations faced by export forwarders (see 1904170064). BIS is aiming to issue the proposal in May, it said.
Foreign manufacturers need to be aware that their products may be covered by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security's listing of telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei on the Entity List, even if they aren't manufactured in the U.S., according to an alert by law firm Sheppard Mullin. U.S. export controls on Huawei and its affiliates may apply to a substantial scope of foreign goods that contain more than 25 percent U.S.-origin content. Under the BIS de minimis rule, products are subject to the Export Administration Regulations -- and consequently new license requirements for Huawei -- if more than one-fourth of the product is composed of U.S.-origin content that is also controlled under the EAR, except for “EAR99 items” or products that do not require a license, the alert said.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security said the Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) scheduled a partially open meeting June 4 in Washington. The public session will include an export enforcement update, regulations update, working group reports, an Automated Export System (AES) update, and presentations of papers or comments by the public. The open session will be accessible via teleconference to 25 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. To join via teleconference, submit inquiries by May 29 to Yvette Springer at Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov. A limited number of seats will also be available for the public session.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is adding five new national security-related technologies to the Export Administration Regulations’ Commerce Control List, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The additions stem from changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement’s List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies agreed to during the 2018 Plenary meeting, the notice said. The changes add “recently developed or developing technologies” that are “essential” to U.S. national security: “discrete microwave transistors,” “continuity of operation software,” “post-quantum cryptography,” “underwater transducers designed to operate as hydrophones” and “air-launch platforms.” The notice is scheduled for publication and the changes take effect on May 23.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to remove Venezuela from Country Group B and add it to Country Groups D:1-4, which “lists countries of national security concern” and adds new licensing requirements while restricting the use of certain license exceptions for exports. The changes take effect May 24.
The Trump administration's decision to examine emerging technologies as candidates for export controls could cost U.S. businesses tens of billions of dollars and threaten thousands of jobs, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a new report. If substantial export controls are enacted, the report warns, firms “could lose $14.1 [billion] to $56.3 billion in export sales over five years, with missed export opportunities threatening from 18,000 to 74,000 jobs.”
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is issuing a general license temporarily allowing certain transactions with Huawei and 68 of its affiliates without new licensing requirements set by their recent addition to the Entity List. The general license is scheduled for publication in the May 22 Federal Register, and will remain in effect from May 20 through Aug. 19.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is issuing a general license temporarily allowing certain transactions with Huawei and 68 of its affiliates without new licensing requirements set by their recent addition to the Entity List. The general license authorizes exports, re-exports and in-country transfers under pre-listing conditions if they are related to the continued operation of existing networks and equipment; support for existing Huawei handsets; cybersecurity research and vulnerability disclosure; or engagement necessary for the development of 5G standards by a recognized standards body. The general license is scheduled for publication in the May 22 Federal Register, and will remain in effect from May 20 through Aug. 19.
The Commerce Department on May 16 added Huawei Technologies to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List, eliciting strong reaction from Huawei and China over the move that may have substantial effects on U.S. exporters. In a notice in the Federal Register, BIS said it is imposing license requirements on Huawei and its 68 non-U.S. affiliates for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations with a license review policy of presumption of denial. The Federal Register notice is scheduled for May 21 publication, but the changes take effect May 16. All shipments aboard carriers as of May 16 may proceed to their destinations under previous license conditions.