Bureau of Industry and Security December 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding twenty-three entities to the Entity List. The twenty-three entities who are added to the Entity List have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. BIS is taking this action to ensure the efficacy of existing sanctions on the Russian Federation (Russia) for violating international law and fueling the conflict in eastern Ukraine. These entities will be listed on the Entity List under the destinations of Russia and the Crimea region of Ukraine. In addition to the Entity List changes described above, this final rule revises the licensing policy in three sections of the Commerce Control List (CCL)-based controls in the EAR to clarify that BIS's review of license applications for exports, reexports and transfers (in-country) to Russia will take into account and protect U.S. national security interests.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) publishes this final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement the recommendations presented at the February 2016 Australia Group (AG) Intersessional Implementation Meeting, and later adopted pursuant to the AG silent approval procedure, and the understandings reached at the June 2016 AG Plenary Implementation Meeting. This rule amends two Commerce Control List (CCL) entries to reflect the February 2016 Intersessional Implementation Meeting recommendations that were adopted by the AG. Specifically, this rule amends the CCL entry that controls certain human and zoonotic pathogens and toxins to reflect the AG updates to the nomenclature for certain bacteria and toxins identified on the AG ``List of Human and Animal Pathogens and Toxins for Export Control.'' In addition, this rule amends the CCL entry that controls equipment capable of handling biological materials to reflect the AG updates to the controls on cross (tangential) flow filtration equipment described on the AG ``Control List of Dual-Use Biological Equipment and Related Technology and Software.'' Consistent with the understandings adopted at the June 2016 AG Plenary Implementation Meeting that updated the AG ``List of Human and Animal Pathogens and Toxins for Export Control,'' this rule amends the CCL entry that controls certain human and zoonotic pathogens and toxins by removing dengue fever virus, updating the nomenclature of the listing for conotoxin, and consolidating the controls for Shiga toxin and Verotoxin (and other Shiga-like ribosome inactivating proteins) under a single listing. This rule also amends the CCL entry that controls equipment capable of handling biological materials by updating the controls on biological containment facilities and related equipment and the controls on fermenters, consistent with the AG Plenary Implementation Meeting updates to the AG ``Control List of Dual-Use Biological Equipment and Related Technology and Software.''

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to remove one end-user from the list of validated end-users in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Specifically, BIS amends Supplement Number 7 to part 748 of the EAR to remove the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) as a validated end-user in the PRC. BIS makes this change at the company's request, and not in response to activities of concern.

This final rule aligns the time limit of License Exception Temporary Imports, Exports, Reexports, and Transfers (in-country) (TMP), which authorizes, among other things, certain temporary exports to Mexico, with the time limit of Mexico's Decree for the Promotion of Manufacturing, Maquiladora and Export Services (IMMEX) program. Currently, TMP allows for the temporary export and reexport of various items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), as long as the items are returned no later than one year after export, reexport, or transfer if not consumed or destroyed during the period of authorized use. Other than a four-year period for certain personal protective equipment, the one-year limit extends to all items shipped under license exception TMP. However, the one-year period does not align with the time constraints of Mexico's IMMEX program, which allows imports of items for manufacturing operations on a time limit that may exceed 18 months. This rule amends TMP to complement the timeline of the IMMEX program. Under this amendment, items temporarily exported or reexported under license exception TMP and imported under the provisions of the IMMEX program would be authorized to remain in Mexico for up to four years from the date of export or reexport.