BIS Amends EAR to Remove Rwanda UN Controls, Decontrol Machetes, Clarify UN Embargoes
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations, effective July 23, by: (1) removing United Nations Embargo (UN) controls on Rwanda; (2) removing machetes from the Commerce Control List; and (3) requiring a license to export or reexport certain items to countries subject to UN Security Council arms embargo, with a presumptive denial policy. The removal of Rwanda from UN controls implements the UN’s 2008 termination of the arms embargo against Rwanda, BIS said. BIS is removing machetes from the CCL because they were added only to address concerns with their use in Rwanda in particular.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
(The UN arms embargo against Rwanda was initially imposed in 1994 during the Rwandan genocide, and was continued through subsequent resolutions. The UN terminated the arms embargo against Rwanda on July 10, 2008.)
UN Controls Removed for Rwanda; Machetes Removed from the CCL
BIS’ final rule eliminates UN controls for Rwanda by removing references to Rwanda from Part 746 of the EAR. As machetes were added to the CCL to address concerns with their use in Rwanda in particular, BIS is removing machetes from the CCL by amending the heading for ECCN 0A988 to remove the reference to machetes (the heading now reads “Conventional military steel helmets as described by 0A018.d.1”).
BIS also made conforming changes related to the removal of UN controls on Rwanda in Section 732.3, Supplement No. 1 to Part 738, and Supplement No. 1 to Part 774 of the EAR. Changes to individual ECCNs in Supplement No. 1 to Part 774 include, among other things, (i) removal of specific references to Rwanda in “License Exceptions” sections, and (ii) in “Reasons for Control” sections for items controlled for UN reasons, replacement of references to individual countries under UN embargo with the phrase “See Section 746.1(b) for UN controls.”
EAR Now Says Licenses Required for UN Embargo Countries
BIS is also amending paragraph (b) of Section 746.1 of the EAR to require a license to export or reexport certain items to countries subject to UN arms embargoes. The final rule removes the references to individual countries from paragraph (b), renumbers paragraph (b) as (b)(1), and adds references to Sections 746.3 (Iraq) and 746.4 (North Korea) to the paragraph.
The final rule also adds to Section 746.1 of the EAR paragraph (b)(2), which lists all the countries subject to UN arms embargoes (Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast); Democratic Republic of the Congo; Eritrea; Iran; Iran; Lebanon; Liberia; Libya; North Korea; Somalia; and Sudan). New paragraph (b)(3) says a license will be required to export or reexport items identified on the CCL as having a UN reason for control, and BIS will not approve such licenses if contrary to the relevant UN Security Council resolution. Finally, new paragraph (b)(4) says that the availability of license exceptions for countries under UN arms embargo is restricted to license exception GOV.