As the Bureau of Industry and Security adds new export controls on emerging technologies, it should also remove outdated restrictions on items that may no longer warrant licensing requirements, such as life jackets and fire extinguishers, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report. The think tank also urged BIS to shrink the Entity List to only entities that pose the most serious national security threats and consider giving preferential licensing treatment to a broader set of countries, including Vietnam and Moldova.

Congress should order a review of U.S. semiconductor export controls against China and ask the administration to create a public database of entities connected to China’s military, which would help U.S. companies with their compliance practices, a congressional commission said this week. The bipartisan commission also said Congress should explore the idea of a single export licensing system to streamline export requirements overseen by both the Commerce and State departments.

A U.S. semiconductor company and a Canadian electronics component manufacturer are locked in a legal battle that could have implications for the export compliance responsibilities of sellers and buyers, particularly within the chip industry.

The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary denial order on Nov. 7 against seven people and three companies for orchestrating a scheme to illegally export millions of dollars worth of export-controlled dual-use electronics to Russia. BIS said the U.S.-origin items were bought by Russian procurement agents and transshipped through other countries before being delivered to Russian companies with ties to the country’s military.

The Bureau of Industry and Security fined Forta, a U.S. synthetic fiber manufacturer, $44,750 after the company violated BIS’ antiboycott regulations. Forta voluntarily disclosed the violations, which included providing its freight forwarder ahead of a trade show in Abu Dhabi with certifications that its products weren’t made with Israeli labor or raw materials.

The Bureau of Industry and Security last week completed rounds of interagency review for two rules, including one that could make changes to a license exception in the Export Administration Regulations.

The House on Nov. 1 voted 363-46 to pass a bill that would impose sanctions on any person, entity or state that offers financial or material support to Hamas and its affiliates. Along with financial sanctions, the bill calls on the president to block exports of any item on the U.S. Munitions List or Commerce Control List to any foreign state that provides support or “engages in a significant transaction” with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Lion’s Den or “any affiliate or successor thereof.” The administration would also have to submit regular reports to Congress detailing the “disposition of the assets and activities” of those groups, a list of foreign states knowingly giving them support and more. The legislation includes certain exceptions, including for humanitarian aid.

The U.S. this week announced a spate of new Russia-related sanctions and export controls, targeting people and companies supplying Russia’s military, aiding its defense industrial complex or operating in various Russian financial, metals, government and procurement sectors. The measures include additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List and more than 200 combined sanctions by the Treasury and State departments targeting businesses in China, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere for sending export-controlled components to Russia.

The Commerce Department again renewed a temporary export denial order for Mahan Airways because the airline continues to violate the order and the Export Administration Regulations. Mahan Airways has been on the banned list since 2008, and Commerce in its Oct. 31 notice said the Iranian airline has continued flights between Iran and Iraq, Russia, China and Pakistan in violation of U.S. export controls. BIS also highlighted its "continued investigation" into Mahan’s recent acquisition of an Airbus A340 with Iranian tail number EP-MJA, which the agency said had flown between Tehran and Moscow as recently as Oct. 25.

The Bureau of Industry and Security added 13 entities from Russia and Uzbekistan to its Entity List for helping Russia procure and develop unmanned drones. The entities, listed in a final rule effective Nov. 2, are subject to license requirements for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and licenses will be reviewed under a policy of denial, apart from certain food and medicine. The entities are also subject to licensing restrictions under the BIS Russia/Belarus-Military End User Foreign Direct Product rule.