Export compliance professionals stressed the importance of restricted party screening, telling this week's American Association of Exporters and Importers’ annual conference the screening process has become even more pivotal as the pace of new U.S. sanctions and export controls increases. Karen Wyman, who heads the trade compliance division at thermal imaging company Teledyne FLIR, said part of that effort is ensuring screening lists are constantly up to date.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is working “day-in and day-out” on a final rule that will make tweaks to its China-related chip export controls released in October (see 2210070049), said BIS Senior Export Policy Analyst Sharron Cook. But a public release of the rule isn’t imminent -- the agency hasn’t yet sent the changes to be reviewed by other agencies, said Hillary Hess, regulatory policy director at BIS.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week again renewed temporary denial orders for three Russian airlines (see 2206240051), because they continue to illegally operate aircraft on flights into and out of Russia. The agency renewed denial orders for Siberian Airlines, Pobeda Airlines and Nordwind Airlines for 180 days from June 15.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week issued a correction to its June 14 final rule that added 43 entities to the Entity List, including various Chinese companies that support the country’s military (see 2306120030). BIS said it mistakenly included an entity in its “preamble justification” for the additions “but inadvertently did not instruct, nor provide regulatory text for, the addition of the entity to the Entity List.”
Although the Bureau of Industry and Security last month said it doesn’t have a draft rule in place to increase export licensing requirements for Huawei, exporters would be wise to still expect a tightening of restrictions against the Chinese telecommunications company, industry officials said this week. They also didn’t rule out BIS soon increasing export controls against China in other ways, including by potentially adding more items to the scope of its military end-use and end-user (MEU) rule requirements.
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently revoked export privileges for seven people after they illegally exported or tried to export controlled items, including military equipment, firearms and ammunition.
A ramping up of U.S. export enforcement efforts is causing companies to revisit their compliance practices, particularly as the Bureau of Industry and Security conducts more outreach to exporters, said Alan Enslen, a trade lawyer with Womble Bond. He said companies are more frequently auditing their export compliance programs amid a number of signs that the Biden administration is increasing scrutiny on potential export violations, including a multi-agency memo issued in March that Enslen said was a “shot across the bow” for U.S. exporters.
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently suspended the export privileges of Thomas Harris, an inmate at a Louisiana federal prison, after he was convicted March 1, 2022, for smuggling firearms from the U.S. to Saint Lucia. BIS said Harris was sentenced to 46 months “confinement,” three years of supervised release and a $1,500 assessment. The agency suspended Harris’ export privileges for 10 years from the conviction date.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 43 entities to the Entity List this week, including companies conducting various activities that either support China’s military or allow the government to “carry out human rights abuses.” Other entities were added for supporting Pakistan’s ballistic missile program or other weapons capabilities.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection involving its “simple network application process” and “multipurpose application form.” The process and form allows exporters to submit license applications, commodity classification requests, encryption review requests and other “notifications” to BIS. Comments are due Aug. 11.