The Bureau of Industry and Security should be careful not to place overly broad, unilateral export restrictions on items for crowd control reasons if the controls disproportionately hurt U.S. competitiveness, industry told BIS in comments released this month. But some commenters, including a human rights advocacy group and a Congress member, called for new export restrictions and suggested existing controls -- especially on technologies that contribute to Chinese human rights abuses -- should be tightened.

The Bureau of Industry and Security removed 40 entries and added 26 others to its Unverified List, the agency said in a final rule released Oct. 8. BIS removed the 40 entries -- located in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates -- after verifying their “legitimacy and reliability” relating to the end use of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations or because their companies are no longer “involved in U.S. exports.” BIS added the 26 others -- located in Armenia, Finland, Hong Kong, Germany, Pakistan, Turkey, the UAE, Mexico and China -- because it was unable to verify their “bona fides” through an end-use check. The changes take effect Oct. 9.

The Bureau of Industry and Security released a final rule Oct. 5 to prevent its publicly disclosing classified national security information during a court battle. The rule said BIS can submit classified information in private -- or “ex parte and in camera” -- to courts reviewing an agency action under Export Administration Regulations. “By providing such information ex parte and in camera to a reviewing court,” the rule said, “BIS can limit access to the information and prevent public disclosure of the information during the course of litigation.”

The Bureau of Industry and Security imposed a license requirement on certain exports of water cannon systems and revised its licensing policy for crime control (CC) items. The moves will place more oversight on exports that have potential to be used for human rights violations, BIS said in final rules released Oct. 5. Both rules take effect Oct. 6.

The State Department announced procurement bans and export controls on 11 entities and one person for violating export restrictions imposed by multilateral control groups. The restrictions, said a notice released Oct. 2, apply to entities in China, Russia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, their subsidiaries and one person in China for illegally trading items restricted by multilateral control groups, including the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group. The order bans U.S. government procurement and government sales to any of the entities or people involving items on the U.S. Munitions List and controlled under the Arms Export Control Act. It also suspends export licenses for items controlled under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and the Export Administration Regulations. The order took effect Sept. 23 and will remain in place for two years. It applies to the following entities:

The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 2 announced new export controls (see 2008100013 and 2005190052) on six emerging technologies. The controls, which were agreed to by Wassenaar Arrangement members during its 2019 plenary, include:

A former U.S. official and a Senate staffer who worked closely with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security’s handling of emerging and foundational technologies, saying the lengthy process is impeding the work of CFIUS. David Hanke, the former staffer and architect of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, called CFIUS’s reliance on BIS’s export control effort a “deeply flawed system,” while Nova Daly, the Treasury Department’s former deputy assistant secretary for investment security and policy, acknowledged the process is difficult but said BIS should move faster.

The administration should increase export controls and sanctions pressure on China, place more scrutiny on Chinese foreign direct investment and push for the modernization of multilateral export regimes, the House’s Republican-led China Task Force said in a Sept. 30 report. It urged the administration to act quickly, saying China and other U.S. “adversaries” are flouting international export control laws and undermining U.S. technology industries.

The State Department issued the final version of its guidance on exports of surveillance technology (see 1909040071 and 1911060049), which includes definitions and guidance principles for companies to weigh before exporting sensitive items to potential human rights abusers. The Sept. 30 guidance expands on the agency’s initial definition of human rights due diligence and offers a range of red flags and due diligence considerations, but did not significantly narrow its definition for surveillance items, despite requests from industry.

Two Iranian men were charged in a conspiracy to illegally export computer servers to Iran, the Justice Department said Sept. 28. Ebrahim Azadegan and Alireza Alvandi were charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations when they allegedly tried to ship the servers without licenses. The servers are classified as dual-use goods under the Commerce Control List and are export controlled for anti-terrorism and national security reasons.