Bureau of Industry and Security February 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule amends the Export Administrations Regulations (EAR) to impose new export control measures on Iran. These measures address the use of Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) by the Russian Federation (Russia) in its ongoing war against Ukraine, contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. Although UAVs are also known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs), for purposes of consistency with the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) they are referred to as UAVs in the EAR. These amendments to the EAR target Iran's supply of UAVs to Russia to enhance Russia's defense industrial base and its military efforts against Ukraine and build on prior EAR amendments, including the addition of Iranian entities to the Entity List as Russian `military end users.' Specifically, these controls impose license requirements for a subset of EAR99 items that are destined to Iran, regardless of whether a U.S. person is involved in the transaction. Such items are identified by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS)-6 Codes in a new supplement added to the EAR, which will allow BIS and other relevant U.S. Government agencies to track and quantify these exports. This rule also identifies certain foreign- produced items as subject to the EAR by adding a new foreign direct product (FDP) rule specific to Iran that applies to items in certain categories of the Commerce Control List (CCL) and the EAR99 items identified in this new supplement. This rule similarly revises the EAR's existing Russia/Belarus FDP rule to reference these EAR99 items. Together with a separate rule published in the same issue of the Federal Register adding export controls for Russia and Belarus, these changes impose license requirements on additional exports from abroad and reexports to Iran, Russia, and Belarus, with the purpose of degrading the Iranian UAV program and Russia's use of such UAVs against Ukraine.

In response to the Russian Federation's (Russia's) ongoing aggression against Ukraine, as substantially enabled by Belarus, the Department of Commerce is expanding and strengthening the existing sanctions against Russia and Belarus, including the scope of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR)'s Russian and Belarusian industry sector sanctions and `luxury goods' sanctions. This rule also refines existing export controls on Russia and Belarus. The Department of Commerce is taking these actions to enhance the effectiveness of its controls on both countries and to better align them with those implemented by U.S. allies and partners.

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. During the December 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (WA) Plenary meeting, Participating States of the WA (Participating State) made certain decisions affecting the WA control lists, which BIS is now implementing via amendments to the CCL. On August 15, 2022, BIS published a final rule that implemented some of these decisions by adding to the CCL four technologies that met the criteria for emerging or foundational technologies under Section 1758 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). This final rule implements the remaining controls agreed to during the December 2021 WA Plenary meeting by revising the CCL, as well as certain EAR provisions, including License Exception Adjusted Peak Performance (APP). This final rule also makes corrections to align the scope of Significant Item (SI) license requirements throughout the EAR and makes a revision to License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA).

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding six entities to the Entity List, under the destination of the People's Republic of China (China). These six 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.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is announcing a two- day hybrid (in-person and virtual) conference with industry and other experts from academia on Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology (hereinafter, the BCI conference). This document describes the purpose and scope of the BCI conference and the procedures for attending or requesting to speak. In an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) published on October 26, 2021, BIS requested input from the public and industry concerning the potential uses of BCI technology, particularly with respect to its impact on U.S. national security. While the comments submitted in response to the ANPRM increased BIS's understanding of BCI technology, the BCI conference is intended to further both BIS's and the public's understanding of the current status of BCI technology and anticipated future developments in research and applications.

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding seven entities to the Entity List. These seven entities, listed under the destination of Iran, have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States for contributing to Russia's military and defense industrial base. They are being added to the Entity List with application of the Russia/Belarus-Military End User Foreign Direct Product rule.