The head of the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security revoked a shipping company’s export privileges for 15 years for export violations but ordered a review of the assessed fine, saying it was too high, according to a March 11 order. The company and its chairman -- Singapore-based Nordic Maritime Pte. Ltd and Morten Innhaug, respectively -- were originally fined more than $30 million by an administrative law judge, who also revoked the company’s export privileges until the fine was paid, according to the order. But Cordell Hull, BIS’s acting undersecretary, said the fine was too high, ordering the judge to review its decision to impose the penalty.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security added 24 entities to its Entity List and revised five existing entries, the agency said in a notice. The new entries include companies in China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates; and the revised entries are for entities in France, Iran, Lebanon, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The changes take effect March 16. All shipments now requiring a license as a result of this rule that were on dock for loading or aboard a carrier to a port as of that date may proceed to their destinations under the previous eligibility, BIS said.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security canceled its annual export control conference set to be held in Los Angeles in April due to coronavirus concerns, BIS said March 12. BIS said it made the decision “out of an abundance of caution.” The Export Control Forum, which was scheduled for April 1-2, will instead be offered as a “remote access program in the near future” and will provide some of the information officials “intended to present” at the conference, the agency said. BIS has not yet determined the date of that program. BIS also said the event’s co-sponsor, the District Export Council of Southern California, will return registration fees.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 24 entities to its Entity List and revised five existing entries, the agency said in a notice. The new entries include companies in China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, the notice said, and revised entries for entities in France, Iran, Lebanon, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The new entries include China-based Wuhan IRCEN Technology, as well as several other companies in Iran and Pakistan that BIS said threaten U.S. national security. The changes take effect March 16, but all shipments now requiring a license as a result of this rule that were on dock for loading or aboard a carrier to a port as of that date may proceed to their destinations under the previous eligibility, BIS said.
The Commerce Department is still considering placing export controls on Gate-All-Around Field Effect Transistor (GAAFET) technology, despite withdrawing the rule from the Office of Management and Budget last month (see 2002130033), said Hillary Hess, the Bureau of Industry and Security’s director of regulatory policy. The rule was expected to be one of six controls issued by Commerce early this year (see 1912160032) as part of the agency’s effort to control emerging technologies.
Officials from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau and Bureau of Industry and Security met March 9 to align their long-awaited proposed rules on routed export transactions (see 1907100053), which will feature “intense changes” and be accompanied by a series of training sessions and webinars, said Kiesha Downs, chief of the Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch. Officials, including BIS Acting Undersecretary Cordell Hull, met to try to “flesh out” some remaining issues before publishing the proposals, which must be issued simultaneously because of the significant overlap within the rule between BIS and Census, Downs said.
Export controls over technology and software used for the 3D printing of firearms will not transition from the State Department to the Commerce Department after a Washington court granted a request to block the Trump administration from completing the transfer. The court, whose March 6 order temporarily blocked portions of a January final rule to transfer the controls, suggested the administration likely violated notice-and-comment standards and pointed to the “grave reality” the transfer might have on the proliferation of 3D printed guns. The decision stemmed from a January request (see 2001240047 and 2002070043) filed by 20 states and Washington, D.C., to urge the court to vacate the final transfer rules, which were scheduled to take effect March 9 (see 2001170030).
The Commerce Department will hold the first meeting of its Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee May 19, the agency said in a notice in the Federal Register. The committee will focus on identifying emerging technologies with dual uses for potential control by the Bureau of Industry and Security, which is working on restricting exports of both emerging and foundational technologies (see 2002040057). The first meeting is expected to feature remarks from BIS management. The meeting was originally scheduled for December and January before being delayed both times due to issues getting members their security clearances (see 2002240033).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 24-28 in case you missed them.
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.