GunUniversity.com posted a copy of a document that it says is the Commerce Department’s final rule for the transfer of export controls of firearms, ammunition and defense items from the State Department to Commerce. In a Jan. 14 post, the website said the rule will be published this week. The National Shooting Sports Foundation also expected the rule to be published this week (see 2001140043) and has called it the top concern of the gun industry (see 1908130066). Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has said he will block any attempt to transfer the controls from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List unless the administration abides by certain requests, including informing the Senate of certain licensed exports (see 1912160057). Commerce did not comment on the document’s authenticity.

New rules for the transfer of export controls over firearms and ammunition from the State Department to the Commerce Department are expected this week, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. In a newsletter emailed Jan. 13, the NSSF said the rules, which will transfer controls over firearms, guns, ammunition and other defense items from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List, will take effect 45 days after they are published this week.

The Commerce Department should make clear who involved in the import process might be subject to the proposed procedures for how to review transactions that involve information and communications technology and services (ICTS) and are seen as a potential threat, the Express Association of America said in comments. The Commerce proposal is meant as a way for the government to oversee transactions, including importations, seen as risky (see 1911260032). Comments on the proposal were due Jan. 10 and were posted in Commerce docket 2019-0005.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began an interagency review of a final rule that would amend the country groups for Russia and Yemen under the Export Administration Regulations. OIRA received the Commerce Department rule Jan. 8.

The Commerce Department is seeking comments on an information collection related to voluntary self-disclosures of Export Administration Regulations violations, Commerce said in a Jan. 8 notice. Comments are due March 8.

The Commerce Department is amending the Export Administration Regulations to control exports of software designed to “automate the analysis of geospatial imagery,” Commerce said in an interim final rule. The software will be controlled under the Export Control Classification Number 0Y521 series -- a temporary holding classification that lasts for one year from the day the final rule is published. Although the agency believes it is in the U.S.’s national security interest to “immediately” control this software, Commerce is seeking comments on the interim final rule. Comments are due March 6.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls’ interim final rule (see 1912230052) to define activities that are not exports, re-exports or retransfers will significantly reduce regulatory and compliance burdens surrounding encrypted data, a law firm and export consulting firm said. In a long-awaited move, the rule will better facilitate international data storage subject to both the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations.

The State Department published an interim final rule that will revise the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to provide definitions for activities that are not exports, re-exports, retransfers or temporary imports, the agency said in a notice in the Federal Register. The activities include launching items into space, providing technical data to U.S. people within the U.S. or “within a single country abroad,” and moving defense items within the U.S.

An Indonesian citizen and three Indonesian companies were charged after violating U.S. export laws and sanctions against Iran, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 17 press release. Sunarko Kuntjoro and three companies -- PT MS Aero Support (PTMS), PT Kandiyasa Energi Utama (PTKEU), and PT Antasena Kreasi (PTAK) -- illegally exported U.S.-origin goods and technology to sanctioned Mahan Air, an Iranian airline, the press release said. The exports violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, the Export Administration Regulations and the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations.

The Commerce Department plans to release its first set of proposed controls on emerging technologies in six areas, including the semiconductor and artificial intelligence sectors, a top Commerce official said. The six proposed rules (see 1912130055), which may not be released until early next year, include restrictions on items in the fields of quantum technology, semiconductor design, chemicals, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and possibly 3D printing, said Matt Borman, Commerce’s deputy assistant secretary for export administration. The controls stem from an advance notice of proposed rulemaking published more than a year ago.