The Bureau of Industry and Security will issue new export controls on certain cybersecurity items and create a new license exception for those exports, BIS said in an interim final rule released Oct. 20. The rule, which will align U.S. cybersecurity restrictions with controls previously agreed to at the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement, will establish more restrictions on certain items that can be used for “malicious cyber activities” by imposing a license requirement for shipments to certain countries, BIS said. The changes take effect Jan. 19, and BIS will accept public comments until Dec. 6.
The U.S. and the European Union will hold an outreach event Oct. 27 on dual-use export controls, the European Commission said. Stakeholders may submit questions and comments in advance with the goal of reviewing and discussing areas of future export control cooperation, as identified by the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council's first meeting in Pittsburgh. Registration will be limited to two people per organization. The event begins at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
The State Department is reviewing whether to continue to designate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a foreign terrorist organization, the agency said in a notice. It is accepting written statements or “other documentary materials” on the group’s FTO status, which must be submitted by Nov. 2. The Sri Lanka-based Liberation Tigers were designated in 1997. The FTO designation imposes certain sanctions on the group.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published in the Federal Register the texts of four previously issued Venezuela-related General Licenses. GLs 7, 7A, 7B, and 7C outline authorizations for certain transactions with PDV Holding and Citgo Holding for 18-month periods (see 2110010034).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Oct. 11-15 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Treasury Department presented the results of its monthslong sanctions review (see 2107200024, 2107060012 and 2106220037) to the Senate Banking Committee Oct. 19, detailing how it hopes to better coordinate designations with trading partners and establish more modern, effective sanctions regimes. Although some senators applauded the agency’s commitment toward revising its sanctions approach, others questioned Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo about what they said have been several U.S. sanctions failings, including the administration's policies toward Nord Stream 2 and China’s reported purchases of Iranian oil.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will issue new export controls on certain cybersecurity items and create a new license exception for those exports, according to an interim final rule. The rule will establish more restrictions on items that can be used for “malicious cyber activities” by imposing a license requirement for shipments to certain countries, BIS said. The changes, which take effect Jan. 19, will align U.S. cybersecurity restrictions with controls previously agreed to at the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement. BIS is also seeking public comments on the changes by Dec. 6.
The European Union extended its sanctions regime against ISIL/Da'esh and al-Qaida along with individuals and entities associated with the terrorist organization for another 12 months, until Oct. 31, 2022, the European Council said. The sanctions regime currently subjects six individuals to a travel ban and an asset freeze and stands as a supplement to the United Nations Security Council sanctions.
Weak U.S. export controls and licensing policies may have contributed to China's reported development of nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Oct. 18. McCaul said he warned the Commerce Department to place stricter controls on China’s Phytium Technologies -- a company “contributing” to the country’s hypersonic weapons program -- by applying the foreign direct product rule (see 2104150040).
The Bureau of Industry and Security completed interagency review of an interim final rule that could make changes to the Commerce Control List for certain cybersecurity items. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in September (see 2109200005) and completed Oct. 14, would build upon a proposed rule published by BIS in 2015 that was intended to gather feedback on new Wassenaar Arrangement controls on some cybersecurity items.