Law Firm: New Export License Reporting Law Could Lead to More Congressional 'Scrutiny'
A new law that will require the Bureau of Industry and Security to provide Congress with annual reports on certain export licensing information could lead to more "scrutiny" over BIS licensing activity, including through congressional hearings, Akin said in a client alert this week. The firm also said it could increase congressional requests to certain exporters or give rise to more legislation "regarding the scope of controls, parties to be added" to the Entity List or the Military End User List, or "requests for revocation of licenses."
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
The law, which President Donald Trump signed earlier this month, will require BIS to report annually to lawmakers about certain dual-use license applications from the previous year, including the names of the applicant and recipient, a description of the item, the value of the sale, and whether BIS approved the license (see 2508190036). Akin noted that the law requires a report strictly on licenses related to parties on the Entity List or Military End User List in nations listed in Country Group D:5, such as China and others subject to a U.S. arms embargo.
Akin also said the Export Control Reform Act already requires BIS to submit information about export licenses to lawmakers at the request of a chair or ranking member of BIS oversight committees. "This law is only a reporting requirement, subject to the availability of appropriations, and does not mandate any change to scope of controls or license review policy."
In addition, the firm noted that the licensing information will be exempt from public disclosure "unless the full committee determines that the withholding of that information is 'contrary to the national interest.'" The bill also allows BIS to exclude information from the report that may jeopardize an ongoing investigation.