Vishay Precision Group, a U.S. sensor technology company, may have violated U.S. export filing requirements, the company said in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing this month. The company said it submitted a voluntary self-disclosure to the U.S. government after it determined that “certain export shipments of products from one of its subsidiaries” didn’t comply with filing requirements of the Bureau of Industry and Security's Export Administration Regulations and the Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Regulations.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week published a final rule that made various corrections to its regulations, including the restoration of a general export license that it had “incorrectly” removed in 2010. The general license allows exports of uranium from the U.S. “enriched to less than 20 percent in U-235, in the form of UF6 heels in cylinders being returned to suppliers” in member countries of the European Atomic Energy Community or the U.K., DLA Piper said in a client alert. The law firm noted that other forms of uranium materials and related technology are controlled by the Commerce Department’s Export Administration Regulations or the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The NRC’s rule takes effect Dec 14.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection related to voluntary disclosures for violations of the Export Administration Regulations. Comments on the information collection are due Jan. 17.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week renewed the temporary denial order for Russia's Rossiya Airlines. BIS first suspended the export privileges of the airline in May (see 2205200008), barring it from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The agency renewed the denial order for another 180 days on Nov. 15 after finding Rossiya continues to illegally operate aircraft subject to the EAR, including for flights between Russia and Turkey.
U.S. and foreign companies “seem to be equally confused” by the Bureau of Industry and Security's new China chip export restrictions (see 2210070049), said Alison Stafford-Powell, a trade compliance lawyer with Baker McKenzie, speaking Nov. 15 during a virtual event hosted by the law firm. She called the new BIS rule “incredibly complex" and said industry needs more guidance from the agency.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection related to “miscellaneous licensing responsibilities and enforcement.” The collection involves various activities that “do not involve submission of documents to the BIS but instead involve exchange of documents among parties in the export transaction to ensure that each party understands its obligations under U.S. law,” the agency said in a notice released this week. Other activities involve writing export control statements on shipping documents or reporting “unforeseen changes in shipping and disposition of exported commodities.” The activities are needed by the Office of Export Enforcement and CBP to document exports and enforce the Export Administration Regulations. Comments are due Jan. 9.
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, according to a notice issued this week. Mahan Airways has been on the banned list since 2008, and Commerce said the Iranian airline has continued to fly into Moscow in violation of U.S. export controls against Russia. The latest renewal is for 180 days from Nov. 8.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should avoid placing export controls on automated peptide synthesizers, U.S. companies said, arguing that the restrictions would hurt U.S. technological leadership and wouldn't do much to limit the proliferation of biological weapons. A Chinese national academy also opposed the controls, saying they could stifle global research and innovation.
A U.S. hardware supplier said it may have violated U.S. export controls by selling to a Chinese foundry on the Entity List. MaxLinear, which sells highly integrated radio-frequency analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products, disclosed it submitted an "initial notification" of voluntary self-disclosure to the Bureau of Industry and Security in October and its sale may have violated the Export Administration Regulations because it never obtained a license.
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is asking the Commerce Department to provide its licensing data and communications with chip companies, along with a broad swathe of related information, to make sure the agency is implementing its new China controls “fairly across all market players.”