Commerce & State Finalize Another Set of USML-CCL Transfers
The Commerce and State Departments finalized on July 8 the second set of concurrent rules that transfer equipment to the Commerce Control List from the United States Munitions List (USML), as part of President Obama’s Export Control Reform (ECR) initiative. The final rules transfer military vehicles, vessels of war, auxiliary and miscellaneous items, and submersible vessels and oceanographic equipment, that the Obama administration said no longer require strict USML controls. Set to take effect in 180 days on Jan. 6, 2014, the rules revise USML Categories VII, VI, XX and XIII and create new CCL “600 series” Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCN) for the transferred items.
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Consistent with the April 16 implementation rule published that transfers equipment from USML to CCL (see 13041518), the July 8 Commerce rule includes United Nations controls reflected in a July 2012 Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) rule, titled “Export and Reexport Controls in Rwanda and United Nations Sanctions under the Export Administration Regulations”. That rule described the licensing policy for countries party to a United Nations Security Council embargo. The July 2012 BIS rule - to which the July 8 rule is consistent - limited licensing exceptions to party countries.
The final Commerce rule also adds the phrase “mechanical properties” to the December rule proposals pertaining to forgings and castings. The revised USML Category VII, the category that describes military vehicle regulations, includes a list of specific types of parts and accessories that continue to warrant USML control. The revised language does not include blanket controls on generic parts and accessories that are designed or modified for defense purposes.
The State Department rule also sets maintenance level definitions as “organizational-level maintenance,” “immediate-level maintenance” and “depot-level maintenance”. State has also published proposed rule changes to eight other USML categories, with the objective of eliminating blanket controls, it said, and will finalize those proposed rules in the coming months.