The Commerce Department published its spring 2022 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including two new mentions of rules that could result in new emerging technology export controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 24 suspended the export privileges of three Russian airlines for violating U.S. export controls against Belarus. The agency issued 180-day temporary denial orders for Nordwind Airlines, Pobeda Airlines and Siberian Airlines, BIS said, banning all three airlines from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 24 suspended the export privileges of three Russian airlines for violating U.S. export controls against Belarus. The agency issued 180-day temporary denial orders for Nordwind Airlines, Pobeda Airlines and Siberian Airlines, BIS said, banning all three airlines from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
In its recently issued Forced Labor Enforcement Strategy, DHS said CBP is making use of the Bureau of Industry and Security's export enforcement arm to identify Xinjiang entities that are involved in forced labor. CBP uses a “range of sources and research tools, both public and non-public,” to identify the entities, DHS said in its strategy document, including the interagency end-user review committee, which selects the parties that are added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to build on its ability to impose multilateral export controls, said senior BIS official Thea Kendler. Kendler, speaking during a conference last week hosted by the American Association of Exporters and Importers, said the agency wants to capitalize on the highly-coordinated Russia controls to better align future restrictions with a “core group of countries,” echoing comments made by Commerce officials earlier this year who voiced support for a new multilateral export control regime.
The Commerce Department and other government agencies can better tailor their outreach efforts to universities to mitigate export control risks in academia, the Government Accountability Office said in a report last week. Although Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI all conduct outreach with colleges to prevent illegal deemed exports and other sensitive technology transfers, they can do a better job identifying and analyzing export control “risk factors,” GAO said, and use their “limited resources” to make their outreach more efficient.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 16 suspended the export privileges of Belavia Belarusian Airlines, the country’s state-owned national airline, for violating U.S. export controls against Belarus. BIS issued a 180-day temporary denial order for Belavia, which bans it from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The EU needs to modernize and revamp its regulations surrounding intangible technology transfers, which lack sufficient export control guidance, said Magnus Nordeus, vice chair of Digital Europe, a trade policy group. He also said EU companies want more predictability from U.S. export controls, which can be especially difficult to manage for small- and medium-sized businesses.
The Census Bureau is considering a new pilot program that could test the elimination of some export reporting requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico, said Omari Wooden, Census’ assistant division chief for trade outreach and regulations. Officials have so far crafted two proposals that are being discussed “internally,” Wooden said, and would first seek public comment before implementing a potential pilot.
The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn’t given up on a rule to clarify how U.S. companies can participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List, a senior BIS official said this week. Despite yearslong clamoring for the clarification from technology associations and companies, the rule is facing a lengthy internal review process not only from other agencies but also from different bureaus within the Commerce Department, said Hillary Hess, BIS’s regulatory policy director.