As the Trump administration pushes for export controls on certain firearms to be transferred from the State Department to the Commerce Department, top Commerce officials said the move should not be a cause for concern and said they are welcoming feedback from the public and members of Congress.

After more than 25 industry associations urged the Commerce Department to grant more time for comments on its next advance notice of proposed rulemaking for foundational technologies, top Commerce officials said it will consider the request but suggested that U.S. industries have had ample time to prepare comments.

Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau plan to issue a proposed rule for routed export transactions during the summer or fall of 2019, said Sharron Cook, a senior export policy analyst with BIS, at BIS’s annual export controls conference on July 10. The long-awaited proposed rule is expected to update parties’ responsibilities under the Export Administration Regulations in a routed export transaction.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 1-5 in case they were missed.

An Office of Foreign Assets Control official said the agency within the Treasury is trying to “expedite” responses on license applications but does not have the resources to lift certain compliance burdens that have caused headaches for U.S. companies, such as regulations that require businesses to determine which companies are owned 50 percent or more by a sanctioned party. “That’s something were trying to work on,” said Susan Demske, OFAC’s assistant director for regulatory affairs.

The Commerce Department is reviewing export license applications to sell to Huawei in order to “mitigate as much of the negative impacts of the entity listing as possible” and hopes to have decisions “soon,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, Commerce undersecretary for the industry and security.

Iran surpassed the enriched uranium limit that was agreed to as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the country announced July 7, sparking concern from the European Union and threats of additional sanctions by the U.S.

The Census Bureau updated the Automated Export System (AES) with changes to the Schedule B, Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), and HTS Codes that are not valid for AES tables, the agency said in a July 5 email. The changes, which are "effective immediately," reflect the HTS update from July 1. "AES will accept shipments with outdated codes during a grace period for 30 days beyond the expiration date of June 30, 2019," the agency said. "Reporting an outdated code after the 30-day grace period will result in a fatal error."

The EU is creating a new, streamlined declaration type for low value imports worth less than €120, it said in a notice published in the July 5 Official Journal. The new customs declaration type contains fewer data elements than standard customs declarations, but still includes information on value-added tax as a result of the upcoming assessment of value-added tax on low-value imports. The new declaration type must be implemented by the time the VAT exemption for low-value gods is eliminated on Jan. 1, 2021, the notice said.

Instex, the European payment system designed to allow countries to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions, is mostly symbolic, several trade lawyers said. The system is a potentially useful tool to appease Iran’s demands for greater cooperation with Europe, lawyers said, but likely an insignificant mechanism in brokering major trade.