15 CFR Part 772 - DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

This final rule corrects reference and typographical errors in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The corrections are editorial in nature and do not affect license requirements.

This rule updates the Code of Federal Regulations legal authority citations for the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to include the citations to the President's Notice of August 15, 2012—Continuation of Emergency Regarding Export Control Regulations and the President's Notice of May 19, 2012—Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to the Actions of the Government of Syria. It also adds a citation to Executive Order 13338 to the authority citations paragraph of part 746 of the EAR.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains, as part of its Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Commerce Control List (CCL), which identifies items subject to Department of Commerce export controls. This final rule revises the CCL to implement changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement's List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar 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 2011 WA Plenary Meeting (the Plenary). The Wassenaar Arrangement advocates implementation of effective export controls on strategic items with the objective of improving regional and international security and stability. To harmonize the CCL with the changes made to the Wassenaar List at the Plenary, this rule amends entries on the CCL that are controlled for national security reasons in Categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Parts I & II, 6, 7, 8, and 9; revises reporting requirements; and adds, removes, and amends definitions in the EAR. This rule raises the Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) parameter for high performance computers. President Obama sent the report required to make this change to Congress on March 16, 2012. This rule also raises the APP eligibility level for deemed exports of computers in License Exception APP. This final rule also revises the CCL and definitions of terms used in the EAR to implement changes to the WA list that pertain to low light level (LLL) items that were agreed upon by the WA in December 2007 through 2011 at the Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary Meetings. Additionally, this rule adds Mexico as the 41st Participating State in the list of WA members in the EAR.

This final rule corrects reference and typographical errors in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The corrections are editorial in nature and do not affect license requirements.

On December 9, 2010, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking entitled Commerce Control List: Revising Descriptions of Items and Foreign Availability as part of the President's Export Control Reform (ECR) Initiative. The December 9, 2010 notice sought, among other things, public comments on how descriptions of items controlled on the Commerce Control List (CCL) could be made clearer. This proposed rule would implement changes identified by BIS and the public that would make the CCL clearer. This rule would only implement changes that can be made to the CCL without requiring changes to multilateral export control regime guidelines or lists. However, BIS has identified changes that would require a decision of a multilateral regime to implement. For those changes, the U.S. Government is developing regime change proposals for consideration by members of those multilateral export control regimes. BIS will implement those changes in separate rulemakings, if approved by the respective multilateral export control regimes.

This rule updates the Code of Federal Regulations legal authority citations for the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to include the citations to the President's Notice of August 15, 2012—Continuation of Emergency Regarding Export Control Regulations and the President's Notice of May 19, 2012—Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to the Actions of the Government of Syria. It also adds a citation to Executive Order 13338 to the authority citations paragraph of part 746 of the EAR.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains, as part of its Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the Commerce Control List (CCL), which identifies items subject to Department of Commerce export controls. This final rule revises the CCL to implement changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement's List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar 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 2011 WA Plenary Meeting (the Plenary). The Wassenaar Arrangement advocates implementation of effective export controls on strategic items with the objective of improving regional and international security and stability. To harmonize the CCL with the changes made to the Wassenaar List at the Plenary, this rule amends entries on the CCL that are controlled for national security reasons in Categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Parts I & II, 6, 7, 8, and 9; revises reporting requirements; and adds, removes, and amends definitions in the EAR. This rule raises the Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) parameter for high performance computers. President Obama sent the report required to make this change to Congress on March 16, 2012. This rule also raises the APP eligibility level for deemed exports of computers in License Exception APP. This final rule also revises the CCL and definitions of terms used in the EAR to implement changes to the WA list that pertain to low light level (LLL) items that were agreed upon by the WA in December 2007 through 2011 at the Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary Meetings. Additionally, this rule adds Mexico as the 41st Participating State in the list of WA members in the EAR.

As part of the President's Export Control Reform (ECR) Initiative, this proposed rule, and a separate proposed rule from the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, being published in conjunction with this document, sets forth, as much as possible, a common definition of the term “specially designed” for use in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The term “specially designed” is used widely in the Commerce Control List (CCL) and would play an important role in the “600 series” that the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has proposed to create to control less sensitive defense articles transferred from the United States Munitions List (USML) to the Commerce Control List (CCL). The revisions in this rule are part of Commerce's retrospective plan under EO 13563 completed in August 2011. Commerce's full plan can be accessed at: http://open.commerce.gov/news/2011/08/23/commerce-plan-retrospective-analysis-existing-rules .

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) publishes this action to propose how auxiliary and miscellaneous military equipment and related articles the President determines no longer warrant control under Category XIII (Auxiliary Military Equipment) of the United States Munitions List (USML) would be controlled under the Commerce Control List (CCL) in new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) 0A617, 0B617, 0C617, 0D617, and 0E617 as part of the proposed new “600 series” of ECCNs. This rule proposes also to integrate into those five new ECCNs items within the scope of Wassenaar Arrangement Munitions List (WAML) Category 17 that would be removed from the USML, or that are not specifically identified on the USML or CCL but that are currently subject to USML jurisdiction. Finally, this rule proposes to control some items now classified under ECCNs 0A018, 0A918 and 0E018 under new ECCNs 0A617 and 0E617. This action would consolidate the above-mentioned auxiliary and miscellaneous military equipment and related articles on the CCL in the proposed new “600 series.” This rule is one of a planned series proposing how various types of articles that the President determines, as part of the Administration's Export Control Reform Initiative, no longer warrant control on the USML under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), would be controlled on the CCL in accordance with the requirements of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This proposed rule is being published in conjunction with a proposed rule from the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, which would amend the list of articles controlled by USML Category XIII.