The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 33 companies and governmental bodies to the Entity List for their roles in military and proliferation activities and human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang province, BIS said May 22.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing to issue several additional export controls over emerging technologies and is finalizing a long-awaited advance notice of proposed rulemaking for foundational technologies, BIS officials said. The emerging technology controls will be released “within the next few weeks,” an official said, while the foundational technology ANPRM will soon be sent for interagency review and for feedback by technical advisory committee members before being publicly released.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is allowing more time for comments on an information collection relating to technology letters of explanation, according to a notice. The letters provide assurance to BIS and requires the “consignee” to certify that an export involving controlled technical data will not be released to blocked countries. BIS first requested comments for the collection in February (see 2002050019).
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a series of frequently asked questions on May 11 to clarify an International Traffic in Arms Regulations exemption that authorizes exports and other activities made by or for a U.S. government agency.
The Commerce and State Department should improve export control guidance for universities, which sometimes struggle to comply with U.S. export regulations because of unclear guidance that is usually tailored toward industry, the Government Accountability Office said May 12. The GAO also said Defense Department officials should better familiarize themselves with export control regulations in order to not hamper university research efforts.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 27 - May 1 in case you missed them.
The Commerce Department’s new export restrictions on military end-users may significantly raise due diligence requirements for industry, leading to licensing delays and a burdensome vetting process for technology companies, law firms said. If Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security does not clarify the scope of the rule to limit its impact, the rules are likely to damage the semiconductor, telecommunications and aircraft sectors, the law firms said. “This could have a detrimental impact on a broad swath of U.S. industry,” Baker McKenzie said in an April 30 blog post. “A universe of transactions triggering license requirements could significantly increase.”
Some companies are concerned about the possibility of the Commerce Department issuing major export control actions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which they say will compound economic hardships caused by the mitigation response to the highly contagious disease. In interviews, industry officials said they are unsure about their ability to manage sweeping regulatory changes even as they acknowledge that a moratorium on export control actions is unlikely.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security is still planning to hold its annual conference in Washington, D.C., this summer, and officially opened registration for the event on April 30. BIS said it is “closely monitoring” COVID-19 updates and will notify industry of any changes to the June 29-July 1 conference. The conference's agenda includes sessions on license exceptions, semiconductors, end-use checks, updates on export controls, export enforcement and more.
Export license applications may be delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic as the Commerce Department prioritizes COVID-19-related applications, a top Commerce official said. Not all government agencies have remote access to Commerce’s unclassified system for license applications, which is also causing longer processing times, said Matt Borman, Commerce’s deputy assistant secretary for export administration.