BIS, State Dept. Issue Final Rules to Controls on Military Aircraft, Gas Turbines
The Bureau of Industry and Security and the State Department are issuing parallel final rules to clarify the types of military aircraft controlled on the Commerce Control List (CCL) and to delineate the goods warranting control on the U.S. Munitions List (USML), respectively, BIS (here) and State (here) said. More specifically, BIS’s rule elucidates and expands the list of items that are subject only to the anti-terrorism reason for control, and State’s revises USML Categories VIII (Aircraft and Related Articles) and XIX (Gas Turbine Engines and Associated Equipment). The final rules come after corresponding Feb. 9 proposed rules, and will take effect Dec. 31.
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State is amending USML Categories VIII and XIX to prevent inadvertent control of items in normal commercial use and account for technological advancements, State said. Among other things, State’s rule clarifies the design features meriting USML control of unarmed military drones; military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft; electronic warfare, airborne warning and control aircraft; and air refueling aircraft. Further, the State rule removes the “ship-based” control parameter in the USML for launching and recovery equipment “specially designed” for certain defense articles. State’s rule also updates the list of platforms covered in USML Paragraph (h)(1), revises Paragraph (h)(2) to focus the scope of control on certain rotorcraft gearboxes meeting specific technical parameters, and adds the term “on-aircraft” to Paragraph (h)(5), which controls tail hooks, landing gear, and “specially designed parts and components therefor.”
For its update of USML Category XIX, State is clarifying the scope of controlled Turbofan and Turbojet engines capable of 15,000 pound-forces of strength or greater with certain design components, and updating the specific power thresholds and revising the performance criteria meriting control of certain Turboshaft and Turboprop engines. Moreover, State is modifying USML Category XIX Paragraph (d) to update the list of specific types of controlled engines. The rule also clarifies the scope of controlled hot-section components, and reorganizes text in Category XIX (f)(2) according to the nature of the articles. State is also revising controls for Category XIX Paragraphs (f)(7) to (f)(12), which includes test cells or test stands specially designed for technology demonstrator engines, developmental engines, or variable section engines; investment casting cores, core dies, or wax pattern dies for parts or components described in Category XIX Paragraphs (f)(1), (f)(2), or (f)(3); certain pressure gain combustors; certain three-stream fan systems; certain high-pressure compressors; and certain intermediate compressors of a three-spool compression system.
Among BIS’s CCL revisions through the rule are clarifications of the status of L-100 aircraft and the 501-D22 engine, which one commenter on the Feb. 9 proposed rule noted was an “ongoing discussion for years,” saying that the clarification should help the CCL retain consistency. BIS agreed with the commenter. BIS is also adding the word “runway” to Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 9A610.e to clarify that the ECCN controls runway-based arresting and systems for all manned and unmanned aircraft controlled under USML Category VIII(a) or ECCN 9A610.a. BIS also is shifting all mobile land-based arresting and engagement systems on runways for manned and unmanned aircraft currently controlled under USML Category VIII(a) or ECCN 9A610.a to ECCN 9A610.e.
(Federal Register 11/21/16)