15 CFR 774 - THE COMMERCE CONTROL LIST

This correction adds a compliance date of February 9, 2012, to a final rule published on January 9, 2012 (77 FR 1017). That final rule imposed a license requirement on exports and reexports to all destinations other than Canada of two types of microwave and millimeter wave electronic components. The two components are packaged high electron mobility transistors and packaged microwave “monolithic integrated circuits” power amplifiers that meet certain criteria with respect to frequency range, size and output power. BIS is publishing this correction to make sure exporters and reexporters have sufficient time to comply with the rule.

This rule imposes a license requirement on exports and reexports to all destinations other than Canada of two types of microwave and millimeter wave electronic components. The two components are packaged high electron mobility transistors and packaged microwave “monolithic integrated circuits” power amplifiers that meet certain criteria with respect to frequency range, size and output power. BIS takes this step to control exports and reexports of these components, which have uses in military radar systems as well as in civilian radar and telecommunications systems. The U.S. Government also plans to propose adding these components to the Dual List of the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement Dual Use List) in 2012.

This correction adds a compliance date of February 9, 2012, to a final rule published on January 9, 2012 (77 FR 1017). That final rule imposed a license requirement on exports and reexports to all destinations other than Canada of two types of microwave and millimeter wave electronic components. The two components are packaged high electron mobility transistors and packaged microwave “monolithic integrated circuits” power amplifiers that meet certain criteria with respect to frequency range, size and output power. BIS is publishing this correction to make sure exporters and reexporters have sufficient time to comply with the rule.

This rule imposes a license requirement on exports and reexports to all destinations other than Canada of two types of microwave and millimeter wave electronic components. The two components are packaged high electron mobility transistors and packaged microwave “monolithic integrated circuits” power amplifiers that meet certain criteria with respect to frequency range, size and output power. BIS takes this step to control exports and reexports of these components, which have uses in military radar systems as well as in civilian radar and telecommunications systems. The U.S. Government also plans to propose adding these components to the Dual List of the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement Dual Use List) in 2012.

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by moving the substantive provisions of the comprehensive sanctions on Syria from General Order No. 2 in Supplement No. 1 to part 736 to a revised § 746.9. This rule also includes conforming changes to the EAR. This rule will facilitate compliance with the comprehensive sanctions on Syria.

This proposed rule describes how articles the President determines no longer warrant control under Category VIII (aircraft and related items) of the United States Munitions List (USML) would be controlled under the Commerce Control List (CCL) in new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) 9A610, 9B610, 9C610, 9D610, and 9E610. In addition, this proposed rule would control military aircraft and related items now controlled under ECCNs 9A018, 9D018 and 9E018 under new ECCNs 9A610, 9D610 and 9E610. This proposed rule also addresses license exception availability for items controlled by the five new ECCNs that would be created. This is the second in a planned series of proposed rules describing how various types of articles the President determines, as part of the Administration's Export Control Reform Initiative, no longer warrant USML control, would be controlled on the CCL and by the EAR. This proposed rule is being published in conjunction with a proposed rule of the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, which would amend the list of articles controlled by USML Category VIII. In addition, this proposed rule would modify aspects of the Bureau of Industry Security's (BIS) July 15, 2011 proposed rule by adding cross references to ECCNs 9A018, 9D018 and 9E018; by adding provisions relating to License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) eligibility to clarify that its scope extends to the United States Government, to any person in the United States, and to the “development” or “production” of items; and by including a general policy of denial for 600 series items for destinations that are subject to a United States arms embargo under the regional stability reasons for control.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) publishes this final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement a decision based on a proposal that was discussed at the 2010 Australia Group (AG) Plenary and adopted under the AG intersessional silent approval procedures in November 2010. Specifically, this rule amends the Commerce Control List (CCL) entry in the EAR that controls human and zoonotic pathogens and “toxins,” consistent with the intersessional changes to the AG's “List of Biological Agents for Export Control.” First, this rule clarifies the scope of the AG-related controls in the EAR that apply to “South American haemorrhagic fever (Sabia, Flexal, Guanarito)” and “Pulmonary and renal syndrome-haemorrhagic fever viruses (Seoul, Dobrava, Puumala, Sin Nombre)” by revising the list of viruses in this CCL entry to remove these two fevers and replace them with ten viral causative agents for the fevers. These changes are intended to more clearly identify the causative agents that are of concern for purposes of the controls maintained by the AG. Second, this rule alphabetizes and renumbers the list of viruses in this CCL entry, consistent with the 2010 intersessional changes to the AG control list. Finally, this rule makes an editorial change to the CCL entry that controls human and zoonotic pathogens and “toxins.” To assist exporters to more easily identify the bacteria and “toxins” that are controlled under this CCL entry, this rule alphabetizes and renumbers the lists of bacteria and “toxins” in the entry.

President Obama directed the Administration in August 2009 to conduct a broad-based review of the U.S. export control system in order to identify additional ways to enhance national security. Secretary of Defense Gates described in April 2010 the initial results of that effort and why fundamental reform of the U.S. export control system is necessary to enhance national security. The Departments of Commerce and State described in two December 2010 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemakings the Administration's general plans for reviewing and revising the two primary lists of controlled items—the Commerce Control List (CCL) and the United States Munitions List (USML)—to accomplish this objective by, inter alia, making the lists more “positive,” “aligned,” and “tiered.” This rule proposes a new regulatory construct for the transfer of items on the USML that, in accordance with section 38(f) of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) (22 U.S.C. 2778(f)(1)), the President determines no longer warrant control under the AECA and that would be controlled under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) once the congressional notification requirements of section 38(f) and corresponding amendments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) (22 CFR parts 120-130) and its USML and the EAR and its CCL are completed. In addition to proposing a regulatory construct for transferring these items into the CCL, this rule proposes the transfer of an initial tranche of items from USML Category VII (Tanks and Military Vehicles) to the CCL. This rule also proposes amending the EAR to establish a process by which certain items moving from the USML to the CCL would be made eligible for License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA), and proposes EAR amendments related to movement of USML items to the CCL, such as new definitions of relevant terms, including “specially designed,” “end items,” “parts,” and “components.” Finally, this notice proposes establishing a new holding Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) in which items that warrant a significant level of control, but are not otherwise classified on the CCL, may be temporarily placed.

This final rule revises the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) 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 2009 WA Plenary Meeting (the Plenary) that relate to Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 4A003. These changes agreed to at the Plenary pertain to raising the Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) for digital computers in ECCN 4A003. In accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 1998, the President's report for High Performance Computers was sent to Congress on February 7, 2011, to identify and set forth a justification for the new APP. This rule also makes corresponding revisions to License Exception APP, the de minimis rule, and post shipment verification reporting requirements in the EAR. Additionally, this rule moves Albania and Croatia from Computer Tier 3 to Computer Tier 1 in the section of the EAR dedicated to export control requirements for high performance computers. The Administration believes Albania and Croatia are eligible to be treated as Computer Tier 1 countries because their governments have made the necessary reforms to allow the countries to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and have adopted accepted global standards in export controls.

This rule adds a new license exception to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that authorizes the export, reexport, and transfer (in-country) of specified items to destinations that pose relatively low risk that those items will be used for a purpose that license requirements are designed to prevent. Use of the exception is conditioned upon the creation and exchange by the parties to the transaction of notifications and statements designed to provide assurance against diversion of such items to other destinations. The exception is only relevant to exports, reexports, and transfers for which a license is required under the EAR. Thus, if the EAR do not impose an obligation to apply for and receive a license before exporting, reexporting, or transferring an item subject to the EAR, STA is not relevant to the transaction. The exception does not alter any of the General Prohibitions in the EAR against unlicensed exports, reexports, or transfers to proscribed end users, end uses, or destinations. This rule, has been cleared by several departments, including Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Justice. This rule is part of the Administration's Export Control Reform Initiative, undertaken as a result of the fundamental review of the U.S. export control system that the President announced in August 2009.

This document corrects errors in a final rule published by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in the Federal Register on Friday, May 20, 2011 that revised the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by amending entries for certain items that are controlled for national security reasons in Categories 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Parts I & II, 6, 7, 8, and 9; adding and amending definitions to the EAR; and revising reporting requirements. That final rule contained errors concerning radial ball bearings, as well as editorial mistakes.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains, as part of the agency's 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 2010 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 and amends definitions in the EAR.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) publishes this final rule to implement editorial corrections to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). In particular, this rule corrects the country entry for Syria on the Commerce Country Chart to ensure that the license requirements are accurately represented. In addition, this rule corrects other errors in the Commerce Control List such as inaccurate references, spelling and technical errors, and removes superfluous wording to ensure accuracy in the EAR.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) publishes this final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement the understandings reached at the June 2010 plenary meeting of the Australia Group (AG) and to make certain AG-related editorial clarifications and corrections to the EAR. Consistent with the June 2010 AG understandings, this rule amends the chemical manufacturing equipment entry on the Commerce Control List (CCL) of the EAR to reflect the addition of two parenthetical phrases that clarify the description of certain “materials” contained in items on the AG “Control List of Dual-Use Chemical Manufacturing Facilities and Equipment and Related Technology and Software.” In addition, this rule makes AG-related clarifications and corrections to the EAR. Specifically, this rule amends the human and zoonotic pathogens and toxins entry and the animal pathogens entry on the CCL by making an update and a clarification that are consistent with the description of items on the AG “List of Biological Agents for Export Control” and the AG “List of Animal Pathogens for Export Control,” respectively. Finally, this rule amends the listing for “valves” in the chemical manufacturing equipment entry on the CCL to clarify that it controls “valves” for the “production” of chemicals, as well as “valves” for the “processing” or “containment” of chemicals. The purpose of this rule is to ensure that the AG-related entries on the CCL conform with the wording in the AG Control Lists (as updated by the understandings reached at the 2010 AG Plenary) and to clarify the meaning of terms used in these entries.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is removing from the scope of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) “publicly available” mass market encryption object code software with a symmetric key length greater than 64-bits, and “publicly available” encryption object code classified under Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 5D002 on the Commerce Control List when the corresponding source code meets the criteria specified under License Exception TSU. This change is being made pursuant to a determination by BIS that, because there are no regulatory restrictions on making such software “publicly available,” and because, once it is “publicly available,” by definition it is available for download by any end user without restriction, removing it from the jurisdiction of the EAR will have no effect on export control policy. This action will not result in the decontrol of source code classified under ECCN 5D002, but it will result in a simplification of the regulatory provisions for publicly available mass market software and specified encryption software in object code.