The State Department seeks comments by Nov. 7 on procedures and requirements related to license exemptions for intra-company, intra-organization, and intra-governmental transfers to employees who are dual nationals or third-country nationals. The agency is seeking Office and Management and Budget approval to extend the currently approved information collection, which may include technology security and clearance plans, screening records and non-disclosure agreements under 19 CFR 126.18.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security charged PJSC Lukoil, a Russian multinational energy company, with violations of the Export Control Reform Act for the export of a U.S.-manufactured aircraft from Dubai to Russia, according to an Aug. 31 notice. BIS says that Lukoil "effectively owned, controlled, chartered or leased, through a series of shell companies, at least one U.S.-origin aircraft" subject to the Export Administration Regulations and that its export in March violated license requirements imposed in February.

The Export-Import Bank hasn’t approved a new transaction involving dual-use goods since 2012 and that isn't likely to change in the future, the Government Accountability Office reported Aug. 30. Ex-Im officials told GAO that "no viable applications for dual-use projects reached EXIM’s Board of Directors for approval in fiscal year 2021 or in fiscal year 2022 as of August 2022."

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently revoked export privileges for two people after they illegally exported controlled items from the U.S.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs completed an interagency review of a Bureau of Industry and Security prerule that could lead to new emerging technology export controls (see 2208020009) on “instruments for the automated chemical synthesis of peptides.” The proposed rule, which was mentioned in the agency’s spring regulatory agenda (see 2206270007), would seek public comments on the controls and help BIS determine whether the instruments could provide the U.S. or its adversaries a “qualitative military or intelligence advantage.” OIRA completed its review on Aug 26.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is updating its website and Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS) to reflect the International Traffic in Arms Regulations reorganization that takes effect Sept. 6 (see 2203220013), DDTC said. Updates are being made “on a rolling basis,” with the changes to the DDTC website expected to be “completed and updated” no later than Sept. 9, the agency said. Effective Sept. 6, “all DECCS applications (Registration, Licensing, Advisory Opinions, and Commodity Jurisdictions) will reflect the revised ITAR citations,” it said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has prevented more than 100 illegal exports to Russia and Belarus and detained or seized $93 million worth of shipments since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the agency said in an Aug. 25 news release. It also said it has expedited license approvals for more than $1 billion in defense equipment and services for Ukraine and has added 335 parties to its Entity List for supporting Russia’s military during that same time period.

U.S.-based technology company Oracle this month updated its export control licensing guidance for its software products. The guidance features an Export Control Classification Number matrix, which lists the ECCN for various Oracle products and whether they require a license or are eligible for certain export license exceptions. The company updated a similar guidance for its hardware products earlier this year.

The U.S.’s recently announced export controls on four technologies that can be used to produce advanced semiconductors and gas turbine engines (see 2208120038) are a “violation” of international trade rules, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said this week. The controls -- which will impose license restrictions on two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, certain Electronic Computer Aided Design software and certain pressure gain combustion technology -- “will inevitably hinder international scientific and technological exchanges” and “threaten the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains,” the spokesperson said, according to an unofficial translation of an Aug. 18 news conference transcript. “The United States continues to generalize the concept of national security and abuses export control measures,” the spokesperson said.

The U.K. recently released a report on strategic export controls developments during 2021, detailing its export licensing data, efforts to conduct industry outreach, and information on compliance, enforcement, case studies and more. The U.K. said it processed about 16,400 individual export licenses during 2021 -- rejecting 245 of them -- and completed 69% of them within 20 working days, an increase from the 62% it completed during the same time frame in 2020 but a decrease from the 77% it completed in 2019. It also said it “continues to operate one of the most transparent licensing regimes in the world, publishing information on all licenses issued, refused or revoked.”