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BIS Controls 9 Chemical Precursors, Clarifies FDP Rule Scope

The Bureau of Industry and Security is imposing export controls on nine “key” precursors that Russia has used in chemical weapons against Ukraine, the agency said in a final rule that becomes effective Nov. 1. The rule also updates certain language in BIS regulations that it said will reduce the “licensing burden” for certain government entities located in Russia and Belarus, and it clarifies the scope of the agency's foreign direct product rules.

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The new controls target chemical precursors that BIS said can be used to produce certain chemical weapons or agents used for riot control. Although the precursors have “mostly commercial uses,” including as agricultural pesticides, BIS said Russia has used them “as a method of warfare,” including on the battlefield against Ukrainian soldiers. “It is important to ensure that none of these items falls into Russia’s hands for misuse,” BIS said.

The rule adds the following precursors, which BIS said can be used to make riot control agents and the toxic chemical chloropicrin, to the scope of the agency’s Russian and Belarusian Industry Sector Sanctions:

  • Malononitrile (CAS 109-77-3)
  • 2-Chlorobenzaldehyde (CAS 89-98-5)
  • 2-Chlorobenzyl Alcohol (CAS 17849-38-6)
  • 2-Chlorobenzylamine (CAS 89-97-4)
  • Benzene, 1-chloro-2-(dimethoxymethyl) (CAS 70380-66-4)
  • Acetophenone (CAS 98-86-2)
  • Chloroacetyl Chloride (CAS 79-04-9)
  • Chloroform (CAS 67-66-3)
  • o-Aminophenol (CAS 95-55-6).

BIS said the new controls will “supplement the existing” items controlled under Export Control Classification Numbers 1A984, 1C607 and 1C350. The agency expects to receive another 10 license applications annually as a result of the new restrictions.

Another change will lower license requirements on certain foreign government entities located in Russia and Belarus by “granting them the same eligibility for certain exclusions, license exceptions, and licensing policy as is currently available for private sector entities headquartered” in nations listed in Country Groups A:5 and A:6.

BIS said the revisions will help certain foreign governments carry out official diplomatic and consular missions, including by making them eligible for License Exception Encryption commodities, software, and technology (ENC), among other changes. The agency is expecting the changes to lead to a decrease in five license applications annually.

The agency also revised the Export Administration Regulations to clarify the scope of the Russia/Belarus-Military End User and Procurement Foreign-Direct Product rule and the EAR’s other Entity List FDP rules. The change specifies that people and companies without a license can’t export, reexport or transfer any foreign-produced item subject to the EAR “to or within any destination or to any end user or party.”

BIS said it’s not expecting this change to affect the number of license applications it receives each year.

All exports that now require a license as a result of this rule but were aboard a carrier to a port as of Nov. 1 may proceed to their destinations under the previous eligibility as long as the items are exported by Dec. 2.