The Bureau of Industry and Security completed an interagency review of a pre-rule that would propose new export controls on certain brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies. The rule, which was sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Oct. 5 (see 2110060006) and completed Oct. 19, will seek to determine whether BCI items are emerging technologies and whether effective controls can be put in place. BIS plans to ask for public comments in the pre-rule.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is accepting questions and comments ahead of the first U.S.-European Union joint outreach event on dual-use export controls under the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council. The virtual event, scheduled for Oct. 27 (see 2110190020), will allow members of industry, academia and the public to review and discuss “principles and areas for export control cooperation” along with U.S. and EU officials. BIS is accepting comments through TTCExportControls@bis.doc.gov.

The Bureau of Industry and Security completed interagency review of an interim final rule that could make changes to the Commerce Control List for certain cybersecurity items. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in September (see 2109200005) and completed Oct. 14, would build upon a proposed rule published by BIS in 2015 that was intended to gather feedback on new Wassenaar Arrangement controls on some cybersecurity items.

Thailand’s commerce ministry recently announced plans to impose catch-all controls on exports, reexports and transfers of dual-use goods, technology and software that may threaten the country’s security, KPMG said Oct. 1. The measure, which will take effect at year's end, will apply export controls to any dual-use goods that may be used to develop, manufacture or are otherwise associated with weapons of mass destruction, KPMG said. The country’s Department of Foreign Trade will investigate exports that meet that threshold and can “block any shipment of dual-use items that will be delivered to a high-risk end-user if the shipment of dual-use items is classified as risky and requiring control.” The agency also will be able to “block all activities in relation to such dual-use items.”

The Bureau of Industry and Security made a range of “corrections and clarifications” to the Export Administration Regulations to fix inadvertent errors in 11 parts of the EAR, the agency said in a notice. The changes, effective Oct. 5, aim to “provide clarity and facilitate understanding of the regulations” but don’t “change the substance of the EAR,” BIS said. The agency said it made “minor” changes” to EAR parts 732, 734, 736, 738, 740, 744, 748, 750, 770, 772 and 774.

The U.S. decision to sell Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles to Australia risks undermining export restrictions deployed by the multilateral Missile Technology Control Regime, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said Oct. 1. The MTCR requires all members to exercise a strong presumption of denial for exports of especially lethal missile systems, including the Tomahawk missiles, the report said, and the U.S. sale “runs the risk of further undermining” the denial policy. The institute said the decision will likely be a “source of tension and disagreement” among members during the MTCR’s meeting in Russia this week. The White House didn't comment. The State Department, which regulates the exports of a range of lethal weapons, declined to comment because the sale hasn't yet been formally notified to Congress.

The U.S. partnered with Singapore and Japan to host a virtual trade industry outreach seminar this week, where they discussed emerging technology exports, sanctions compliance and more, the Bureau of Industry and Security said. The ninth annual Joint Industry Outreach seminar, which featured officials from the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Philippines and Malaysia, included discussions on the intersection of export controls and sanctions, controlling emerging technologies, cyber-threats to export-controlled data, intangible transfers of technology and intellectual property, export controls for academic and research environments, and tools for internal compliance planning, BIS said. The agency said the seminar, held Sept. 28-29, allowed governments and industry to share best practices and review recent export control updates.

The Bureau of Industry and Security completed its review of a final rule that would control exports of certain types of deuterium under the Export Administration Regulations. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs June 16 (see 2106240004) and completed Sept. 23, would control deuterium exports “intended for use other than in a nuclear reactor,” BIS said. The agency said the rule will transfer the responsibility for controlling those exports from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to BIS.

Several U.S. national security agencies are split on whether to add Chinese smartphone maker Honor Device to the Entity List, The Washington Post reported Sept. 19. While the Commerce and State departments said Honor shouldn't be added to the list, the Defense and Energy departments last week supported adding the company. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr said Honor should be blacklisted because Huawei, which formerly owned Honor as its smartphone company, is using it to evade U.S. export restrictions. “This isn't a close call,” Carr said in a Sept. 20 tweet. The issue has been “appealed to the political-appointee level” at each of the agencies, the report said, and could be escalated to the Cabinet level and eventually President Joe Biden in the case of a deadlock.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will soon publish an amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to reflect new U.S. sanctions against Ethiopia (see 2109170036), the agency said Sept. 17. DDTC said it’s implementing a policy of denial for exports of defense articles and defense services “to or for the armed forces, police, intelligence, or other internal security forces” of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and will soon make the change official in the ITAR.