Bureau of Industry and Security 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by correcting two entries on the Commerce Control List (CCL) that control Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiving equipment. It was brought to BIS' attention that it did not implement controls over items that no longer warrant control under the United States Munitions List (USML) in a previous published rule. This rule corrects that error. BIS estimates that there will be 12 license applications submitted to BIS annually as a result of this rule.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is extending the comment period for its November 19, 2018, advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), ``Review of Controls for Certain Emerging Technologies'' until January 10, 2019. In response to requests received from members of the public, BIS believes it is appropriate to extend the comment period to provide interested parties additional time to submit their responses to the ANPRM.

The Department of Commerce has developed an online portal that will replace the use of the Federal rulemaking portal (https:// www.regulations.gov) for persons submitting exclusion requests, objections to exclusion requests, rebuttals, and surrebuttals in connection with duties or quotas imposed pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (``232''). In order to improve the 232 exclusion process, the Department of Commerce plans to transition to the new Commerce 232 portal sometime in late 2018 to early 2019. This notice describes the process for the public to submit requests to participate in the public testing phase of the new Commerce 232 portal, and the procedures for attending the public testing.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) controls the export of dual-use and less sensitive military items through the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), including the Commerce Control List (CCL). As controls on exports of technology are a key component of the effort to protect sensitive U.S. technology, many sensitive technologies are listed on the CCL, often consistent with the lists maintained by the multilateral export control regimes of which the United States is a member. Certain technologies, however, may not yet be listed on the CCL or controlled multilaterally because they are emerging technologies. As such, they have not yet been evaluated for their national security impacts. This advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) seeks public comment on criteria for identifying emerging technologies that are essential to U.S. national security, for example because they have potential conventional weapons, intelligence collection, weapons of mass destruction, or terrorist applications or could provide the United States with a qualitative military or intelligence advantage. Comment on this ANPRM will help inform the interagency process to identify and describe such emerging technologies. This interagency process is anticipated to result in proposed rules for new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) on the CCL.

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding one entity to the Entity List. The entity that is added to the Entity List has been determined by the U.S. Government to pose a significant risk of becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. This entity will be listed under the destination of China.

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 2017 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 2017 Plenary meeting by revising Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) controlled for national security reasons in each category of the CCL. This rule also makes other associated changes to the EAR and makes a correction.

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) is requesting public comments on the effectiveness of its licensing procedures as defined in the Export Administration Regulations for the export of agricultural commodities to Cuba. BIS will include a description of these comments in its biennial report to the Congress, as required by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, as amended (TSRA).

On September 4, 2018, BIS published a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding fifteen entities under seventeen entries to the Entity List. An error of omission left out one Pakistani entity from an amendatory instruction. This correction clarifies that instruction.

On March 8, 2018, President Trump issued Proclamations 9704 and 9705 (referred to henceforth as the ``Proclamations''), imposing duties on imports of aluminum and steel. The Proclamations also authorized the Secretary of Commerce (referred to henceforth as the ``Secretary'') to grant exclusions from the duties if the Secretary determines the steel or aluminum article for which the exclusion is requested is not ``produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or of a satisfactory quality'' or should be excluded ``based upon specific national security considerations.'' On March 19, 2018, the Department issued an interim final rule (referred to henceforth as the ``March 19 rule''), setting forth the requirements a directly affected party located in the United States must satisfy when submitting exclusion requests. The March 19 rule also set forth the requirements that U.S. parties must meet when submitting objections to exclusion requests. The March 19 rule amended the National Security Industrial Base Regulations to add two new supplements. The rule published today by BIS, on behalf of the Secretary, revises the two supplements added by the March 19 rule. The revisions are informed by the comments received in response to the March 19 rule and the U.S. Department of Commerce's (referred to henceforth as ``the Department'') experience with managing the exclusion and objection process. The Department understands the importance of having a transparent, fair and efficient exclusion and objection process. The publication of today's rule should make significant improvements in all three respects, but due to the scope of this new process, BIS is publishing today's rule as an interim final rule with request for comments.

The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that the National Defense Stockpile Market Impact Committee, co-chaired by the Departments of Commerce and State, is seeking public comments on the potential market impact of the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Stockpile Annual Materials Plan. The role of the Market Impact Committee is to advise the National Defense Stockpile Manager on the projected domestic and foreign economic effects of all acquisitions, conversions, and disposals involving the stockpile and related material research and development projects. Public comments are an important element of the Committee's market impact review process.

This final rule amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding fifteen entities under seventeen entries to the Entity List. These fifteen entities have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States and will be listed on the Entity List under the destinations of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. This final rule also modifies two entries on the entity list: One entry under the destination of Hong Kong and one entry under the destination of Russia. Lastly, this final rule removes one entity under the destination of Greece from the Entity List. The removal is the result of a request for removal BIS received pursuant to the EAR and a review of information provided in the removal request.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to reflect changes to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex that were agreed to by MTCR member countries at the October 2017 Plenary in Dublin, Ireland, and the May 2017 Technical Experts Meeting (TEM) in Stockholm, Sweden. This final rule revises seventeen Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) to implement the changes that were agreed to at the meetings and to better align the missile technology (MT) controls on the Commerce Control List (CCL) with the MTCR Annex.

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.