The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a proposed rule for interagency review that could place new export controls on certain “marine toxins.” The rule, sent for review March 21, proposes changes to the Commerce Control List to reflect revisions recently made at the Australia Group, a multilateral export control group for chemical and biological weapons. If approved by the interagency, the proposed rule will request public comments on the control changes.

When it runs out of its current equipment, the Russian military will face challenges sourcing critical technologies to upgrade and maintain its military goods, due to U.S. export controls (see 2202240069), the Atlantic Council said in a March 18 post on its website. But much of that could depend on how successfully the U.S. and its allies can enforce the restrictions, the Atlantic Council said, and whether Chinese companies comply with the restrictions or decide to supply chips to Russia and expose themselves to secondary sanctions or similar U.S. export controls (see 2203140009).

The Bureau of Industry and Security on March 17 issued three frequently asked questions to address matters surrounding the savings clauses in export control rules for Russia and Belarus (see 2202240069 and 2203020072). The FAQs clarify which activities and transactions are captured by the clauses, provide details around the effective dates of the clauses, and clarify whether the clauses would cover an order when the ultimate consignee is a warehouse or distributor.

The Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Export Enforcement detained two speedboats destined to Russia earlier this month, an agency spokesperson said March 16. The boats, worth a combined $150,000, were detained at the Port of Charleston on March 2 before they could be exported to a large distributor of yachts and boats in Russia, the spokesperson said. The agency released a picture of one of the boats, saying the exporter failed to obtain an export license. BIS said the shipment was subject to new Russian export restrictions that took effect last month (see 2202240069).

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently launched a landing page for its export control actions against Russia, including relevant fact sheets and guidance. The page also includes agency contact information for industry, a link to request a formal advisory opinion and a list of related regulations and "legal resources." BIS warned that it has imposed controls on a "range of items" subject to the Export Administration Regulations that didn't "previously require export licenses when destined for Russia" and plans to update the page as more restrictions are announced.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing to issue new export control decisions involving emerging technologies agreed to at the 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary. The interim final rule, sent for interagency review March 8, will harmonize the Commerce Control List with a portion of Wassenaar’s 2021 decisions for certain “recently developed or developing technologies,” BIS said. BIS will implement the remaining Wassenaar 2021 control decisions in a separate rule.

The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review March 8 related to its new export controls over certain cybersecurity items (see 2110200036). BIS in January delayed the effective date for the rule to March 7 (see 2201110025) after receiving feedback from industry, which said the new controls should be tweaked so they don’t impede certain activities in the cybersecurity sector, including information sharing and exports to certain government end-users (see 2112130028). BIS said last month it was planning to make minor revisions to the rule to address some public comments (see 2202100026).

The coordinated export controls being levied against Russia by many of the world’s democracies could lay the framework for also cutting off sensitive technologies to China, said Martin Chorzempa, a China expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The current controls against Russia, if “effectively implemented by enough other countries,” could “amount to a near blockade” of advanced technology exports to Russia, Chorzempa wrote March 7, and prove that coordinated controls are effective. He said these same plurilateral restrictions could be used against China in the future, or sooner if the country continues to supply Russia.

South Korean officials said they plan to continue imposing "swift and effective" export controls against Russia following the addition of their country to the U.S.'s list of nations that align closely with the U.S.'s trade restrictions against Russia. South Korea was added to the list March 4, which excludes it from certain license requirements under the U.S.’s two recently issued foreign direct product rules (see 2202240069 and 2203040075). “Korea is closely aligned with the U.S. and the global coalitionto [impose] export control measures and economic sanctions against Russia's military aggression,” Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said in a March 7 news release emailed by the Commerce Department.

The Bureau of Industry and Security last week added South Korea to the list of countries that have imposed similar export controls against Russia and are excluded from certain license requirements under the U.S.’s two recently issued foreign direct product rules (see 2202240069). BIS added South Korea to the list because it has committed to “implement substantially similar export controls on Russia and Belarus under its domestic laws,” the agency said March 4. The list, found under supplement No. 3 to part 746 of the Export Administration Regulations, already includes more than 25 countries, including Canada, Australia, Japan and many European nations. The addition of South Korea took effect March 4.