The State Department this week announced the debarment of U.S.-based telecommunications company VTA Telecom to settle allegations it violated the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls imposed the three-year debarment, which prohibits VTA from participating in any activities subject to the ITAR, after it said VTA illegally exported defense goods to Vietnam and gave false statements on export documents.
ITAR
The International Traffic in Arms Regulations is a framework under which the U.S. administers controls on the export and temporary import of defense articles, defense services and brokering activities. The regulations, which are administered by the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), include the U.S. Munitions List, which sets forth articles and related technical data subject to the jurisdiction of the ITAR.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will soon expand the types of defense articles and services that can be exported to Australia, the U.K. and Canada, including items and activities involving torpedoes, submarine combat control systems, acoustic countermeasure devices and night vision items. The measures were outlined in a final rule, released April 11 and effective May 12, that will also make “clarifying amendments and conforming updates” to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
The Commerce, State and Justice departments fined an American 3D printing company more than $25 million combined after it committed a range of export violations, including illegal shipments of aerospace technology and metal alloy powder to China and controlled design documents to Germany.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week temporarily suspended export license requirements for certain capacitors on the U.S. Munitions List. The suspension, valid for six months from Nov. 21, could allow DDTC to better “facilitate” commercial transactions involving the capacitors, including for the energy exploration and aviation sectors.
The State Department is prioritizing work on several new rules to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including updates to multiple U.S. Munitions List categories and revisions to the agency’s exempted technologies list (ETL), an agency official said this week.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is preparing to publish several new export control rules, including one that will request feedback on U.S. Munitions List categories and another that will consolidate exemptions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. DDTC is also starting to review a more complex set of Ukraine-related export licenses after moving through some of the more straightforward applications earlier this year.
The State Department is “finalizing” discussions with several trading partners on its new open general license concept for certain defense exports, senior agency official Mike Miller. The concept, which could begin as a pilot program, would allow U.S. exports to certain U.S. trading partners without having to apply for a specific license (see 2109290056).
The State Department is considering an open general-license concept for certain defense exports, which would allow U.S. exporters to ship to certain U.S. trading partners without having to apply for a specific license, a senior agency official said. The concept would likely begin as a pilot program, said Mike Miller, deputy assistant secretary for defense trade in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, but it's still being discussed and there isn’t yet a timetable for release.
The State Department is preparing to amend the U.S. Munitions List to update export controls surrounding weapons, spacecraft and military electronics, according to a senior State Department official. The agency also plans to issue another extension to allow employees involved in International Traffic in Arms Regulations-related activity to work remotely and is inching closer to publishing its first ITAR reorganization rule, said Mike Miller, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for defense trade in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
The U.S. issued guidance last week to address industry uncertainty and a rising number of questions about export licensing jurisdiction for goods sent under its Foreign Military Sales Program. The guidance -- which includes frequently asked questions developed by Homeland Security, CBP and the Commerce, State and Defense departments -- was issued because the agencies “continue to receive questions” about exports that were moved from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List but are exported under FMS authority. They said exporters are “having difficulty” understanding how Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations, the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the FMS Program “relate to each other” for goods that have recently transitioned from the ITAR to the EAR.