Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Forwarders should think carefully before they file an export license application on behalf of a customer, a service that could make the forwarder liable in case of an export violation, said Tirrell McKnight, an official with the Bureau of Industry and Security's western regional office. McKnight suggested export application services should only be offered by forwarders who are confident in their export compliance, know their customers well and “want to take on that liability.”

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently published a set of frequently asked questions to provide guidance for exports to Israel. BIS said it’s able to expedite certain Israel-related export applications in light of the ongoing war in the region. It said the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank aren't recognized as separate destinations from Israel under the Export Administration Regulations, so items that require a license for Israel also need a license for those Palestinian territories.

The State and Commerce departments are frequently seeing illegal exports of controlled items, including technical data, by companies that aren’t classifying their products correctly and may not realize they need a license.

The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 27 announced an immediate 90-day suspension of new export licenses for certain firearms, components and ammunition while it reviews its firearms policies to determine whether any permanent changes are “warranted.” During the next 90 days, the agency said it will not issue any new licenses for those exports to non-government end users worldwide, apart from Ukraine, Israel or a nation listed in Country Group A:1.

American, Australian and British officials were pressed this week about why they haven’t sought to include other close allies -- including Canada, Japan or South Korea -- in an ongoing effort to reduce burdensome U.S. defense export control requirements. Speaking during a summit of government and defense industry representatives from more than 25 countries, the officials said reducing restrictions as part of the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership has proven complicated, and the nations aren’t yet ready to expand the group.

Jenner & Block partner Rachel Alpert was tapped to serve as the chief counsel to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the firm announced on Oct. 24. Alpert has worked at Jenner & Block since 2021 and has fleshed out the firm's national security, sanctions and export controls practice, along with the human rights and global strategy practice. Her practice centered around export controls and sanctions proceedings under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Export Administration Regulations and OFAC regulations, among other things. Prior to working at Jenner & Block, Alpert worked as an attorney-adviser to the State Department and as counsel at Latham & Watkins.

The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review that would make corrections to the Export Administration Regulations. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Oct. 23, would “correct inadvertent errors to two recent” BIS Federal Register notices and would be “merely technical corrections,” the agency said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked the export privileges of a Georgia resident after she admitted to trying to illegally export about $25,000 worth of optical sighting devices from the U.S. to China. As part of a settlement agreement, Dina Zhu of Lawrenceville, Georgia, will be barred from participating in any transaction subject to the Export Administration Regulations for one year from Oct. 20, but she won’t face a fine.

The Commerce Department’s long-awaited routed export rule continues to face delays due to a lack of agency resources and attention, said Gerry Horner, chief of the Census Bureau’s Trade Regulations Branch. Horner said both Census and the Bureau of Industry and Security currently “just don't have the resources” to make progress on the effort.