The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security issued guidance Feb. 25 clarifying that the virus causing the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, will continue to be classified under the Export Control Classification Number EAR99, meaning export licenses are generally not required for exports of the virus. BIS said it issued the guidance in response to a report recently published by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which classified the virus, SARS-CoV-2, as belonging to a species similar to SARS-CoV, a virus controlled under the Export Administration Regulations under ECCN 1C351.a.46. But because SARS-CoV-2 is a “genetically distinct virus,” “causes a clinically distinct disease” and the “specifics of the disease … are still being investigated,” BIS said it considers SARS-CoV-2 to be “distinct” from SARS-CoV, adding that it does not yet warrant increased controls. BIS did warn, however, that some end-users, end-uses and destination countries may require a license for exports of EAR99 items, and exporters “should continue to screen all requests in accordance” with the Export Administration Regulations.

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security will submit a proposal for collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget relating to procedures for parties to request removal from the Entity List or Unverified List, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. Comments are due to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov by March 26.

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security will send an information collection proposal to the Office of Management and Budget relating to reports of requests for restrictive trade practices or boycotts, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. The information is used to monitor requests for participating in foreign boycotts. Comments are due to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov by March 26.

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security will send an information collection proposal to the Office of Management and Budget relating to foreign availability procedures, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. The information collection is used by Congress and industry to make foreign availability determinations under the Export Administration Regulations. Comments are due to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov by March 26.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs concluded an interagency review of a final rule from the State Department titled “International Traffic in Arms Regulation: Central African Republic.” OIRA received the rule Nov. 26 and concluded its review Feb. 19. The State Department declined to comment.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls officially launched the registration and licensing applications for its Defense Export Control and Compliance System (see 2002040060) on Feb. 18. Users can register at the DECCS industry portal enrollment page, which also includes an enrollment guide.

Traders who use the “batch submission process” to send license information to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls need to receive the latest version of the client software from OCR Services before the Defense Export Control and Compliance System is launched, the DDTC said Feb. 13. The updated client version contains “necessary revisions” for submitting in batch, the DDTC said. DECCS will launch Feb. 18 (see 2002040060).

The Pentagon will “likely” support new U.S. restrictions on foreign sales to Huawei, a reversal of its objection to a proposed rule considered by the Commerce Department earlier this year (see 2001240012), according to a Feb. 12 Reuters report. Reuters said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recently called Defense Secretary Mark Esper to discuss the rule and the two planned a meeting for next week. The rule would have lowered the U.S.-origin threshold on exports to Huawei to 10 percent, but required the State, Commerce, Defense and Energy departments to approve with input from the Treasury. Trump administration officials plan to meet this month in an attempt to resolve differences over the rule and technology exports to Huawei, and may discuss expanding Commerce’s export control jurisdiction beyond Huawei (see 2002050047).

The Commerce Department withdrew a rule that was expected to impose controls on exports of field effect transistor technology (see 1912170031), according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget. The “Gate-All-Around Field Effect Transistor (GAAFET) Technology” rule, which was sent to OIRA in November and withdrawn Feb. 11, was expected to be one of six rules issued by Commerce early this year (see 1912160032) as part of the agency’s effort to control emerging technologies. Commerce has faced delays while trying to release the rules, which officials expected to be issued by now (see 2002040057). So far, Commerce has issued one rule in the vein of emerging technologies: a January interim final rule to control geospatial imagery software (see 2001030024).

India’s Ministry of Defense amended its export control regulations, according to a notice posted on Feb. 3. The changes include an update to India’s Category 6 munitions list, simplified procedures for the export of munitions list items, and a new “end-to-end” online portal for authorizing exports. In addition, India’s Department of Defense Production will now serve as the licensing authority for Category 6 exports, replacing the Director General of Foreign Trade.