Bureau of Industry and Security 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding two entities to the Entity List. The two entities being 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. These two entities will be listed on the Entity List under the destination of Russia.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is seeking public comments on the impact that implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), through the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act (CWCIA) and the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR), has had on commercial activities involving ``Schedule 1'' chemicals during calendar year 2017. The purpose of this notice of inquiry is to collect information to assist BIS in its preparation of the annual certification to Congress on whether the legitimate commercial activities and interests of chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms are being harmed by such implementation. This certification is required under Condition 9 of Senate Resolution 75, April 24, 1997, in which the Senate gave its advice and consent to the ratification of the CWC.

This rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by removing three entities under four entries from the Entity List. This rule removes one entity listed under the destination of Australia, one entity listed under the destination of China, and one entity listed under the destinations of Iran and the United Arab Emirates from the Entity List. The one additional entry is being removed to account for one entity listed under more than one destination on the Entity List. All three of the removals are the result of requests for removal received by BIS pursuant to the section of the EAR used for requesting removal or modification of an Entity List entity and a review of information provided in the removal requests in accordance with the procedure for requesting removal or modification of an Entity List entity. Finally, this final rule modifies five existing entries on the Entity List consisting of five entries under Pakistan to provide additional or modified addresses and/or names for these persons.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is seeking public comments on the effect of existing foreign policy-based export controls in the Export Administration Regulations. Section 6 of the Export Administration Act requires BIS to consult with industry on the effect of such controls and to report the results of the consultations to Congress. BIS is conducting the consultations through this request for public comments. Comments from all interested persons are welcome and will help BIS determine whether its foreign policy-based export controls should be continued for another year. All comments will be made available for public inspection and copying and included in a report to be submitted to Congress.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains, as part of its Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Commerce Control List (CCL), which identifies certain items subject to Department of Commerce jurisdiction. This final rule revises the CCL, as well as corresponding parts of the EAR, to implement changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (WA List) maintained and agreed to by governments participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement, or WA) at the December 2016 WA Plenary meeting. The Wassenaar Arrangement advocates implementation of effective export controls on strategic items with the objective of improving regional and international security and stability. This rule harmonizes the CCL with the agreements reached at the 2016 Plenary meeting by revising Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) controlled for national security reasons in each category of the CCL, as well as making other associated changes to the EAR.