Officials from the State and Commerce departments underscored the importance of open communication and urged industry leaders to submit public comments as the two begin a review of space-related export controls under a Trump administration directive. At the April 17 public meeting at the Department of Commerce, several officials, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, said they were seeking public comments on an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for both State and Commerce, specifically surrounding items listed on the U.S. Munitions List regarding categories IV and XV: launch vehicles and spacecraft, respectively. The notices were issued March 8; comments are due April 22.
The State Department is seeking Office of Management and Budget approval of the information it will collect through an “online case management system” that will consolidate several Directorate of Defense Trade Controls licensing forms, it said in a notice. The new DS-7788 will be used to review and adjudicate requests to export or temporarily import defense articles, defense services and related technical data. After the new system is implemented, DDTC will discontinue the use of several forms consolidated into the new DS-7788: the DSP-5, DSP-6, DSP-85, DSP-73, DSP-61, DSP-62, DSP-74, DS-6004 and DS-4294. Comments are due to State by June 18.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls has deactivated International Traffic in Arms Regulations "exemption code 22 CFR 126.5C," CBP said in an April 16 message. That section of the federal code only says "reserved." The exemption code "will not be accepted in Electronic Export Information" submissions effective immediately, CBP said. "Appendix O of the Automated Export System Trade Interface Requirement" will also be updated to remove the code, it said.
The House passed a bill that would prohibit the trade of defense-related products and services to the security forces of Venezuela, potentially further restricting the Nicolas Maduro regime's access to weapons. The bill, called the Venezuela Arms Restriction Act, was passed in the House on March 25. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on March 26 but has not yet seen a vote.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 25-29 in case they were missed.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls has opened its Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS) Commodity Jurisdiction Application for testing, it said in an update on its website. Industry participants may now begin testing the electronic form here, and can provide feedback by clicking a button in the application. The testing period will end April 3, DDTC said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 18-22 in case they were missed.
Michael Stashchyshyn, who owned a freight forwarder company in Parsippany, New Jersey, pleaded guilty March 20 to one charge of "conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act," the Justice Department said in a March 21 news release. "In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Stashchyshyn conspired with others to export night sighting equipment, firearm parts, and ammunition to Ukraine without the requisite license issued by the State Department," said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The items were bought in the U.S. and sent to Stashchyshyn, who "then shipped the items to an individual in Ukraine in violation of U.S. law and regulations. The items shipped are contained on the Federal Munitions List and are controlled by the International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) regulations. They are illegal to ship without a license from the State Department, which the defendant and his co-conspirators did not have."
Testing for commodity jurisdiction requests in the State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS) won’t begin until the week of March 25, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said in an updated message on its website. The message had previously said testing would begin March 20 (see 1903200046). “Another announcement will be posted when the system is available for testing,” DDTC said.
Testing for the State Department’s new system for commodity jurisdiction (CJ) requests began March 20, according to a recent post on the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls website. “The application incorporates the existing web-based system into the updated [Defense Export Control and Compliance System] platform, while maintaining user ability to submit CJ requests electronically. The system will be open through March 26th to collect user feedback,” DDTC said. Questions may be directed to the IT Modernization Team at PM_DDTCProjectTeam@state.gov, DDTC said.