A lack of understanding of export controls in university settings is delaying or sometimes preventing research, the Association of University Export Control Officers said in a Sept. 17 letter to the Department of Defense. The group said the confusion is particularly a problem surrounding export restrictions on fundamental research: research that is widely published and shared within the scientific community.
Industry should expect the Bureau of Industry and Security's increased activity around export controls to continue, including more additions to the Entity List and the “refinement” of export controls for Hong Kong, said Tim Mooney, a BIS senior export policy analyst.
FedEx is considering appealing a Sept. 10 federal court decision (see 2009110038) that dismissed the shipping company’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security, a FedEx spokesperson said. The company, which told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that BIS was acting outside the authority of the Export Administration Regulations and was applying overly burdensome liability standards on carriers, said it still believes its arguments are valid. “FedEx respectfully disagrees with the court’s decision and is disappointed by this ruling,” the spokesperson said in a Sept. 11 statement, adding that the company is “considering our legal options, including appeal.”
The Treasury Department issued its final rule to modify mandatory declaration requirements for certain transactions involving critical technologies and made several revisions in response to industry comments. The changes include technical revisions and clarifications related to exemptions and the timing of determining whether a party must submit a declaration.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 10 dismissed FedEx’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security (see 1906250030), saying the shipping company failed to show that BIS was acting outside the authority of the Export Administration Regulations. The court also disagreed with FedEx’s claims that the agency was using the EAR to apply overly burdensome liability standards on carriers and impose penalties even when carriers do not have knowledge of violations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should impose targeted export controls on specific facial recognition software but take care not to restrict the entire technology category, some of which can be used for benign purposes, IBM said. While some technologies are “clear use-cases that must be off limits” for export, such as artificial intelligence-powered software used for mass surveillance and human rights abuses, other technologies are safe for everyday uses, the company said.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 10 dismissed FedEx’s June 24 lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security, saying the company failed to show that BIS was acting outside the authority of the Export Administration Regulations. The court also disagreed with FedEx’s claims that the agency was using the EAR to apply overly burdensome liability standards on carriers and impose penalties even when carriers do not have knowledge of violations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added, revised and made technical changes to export controls in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement changes under the 2018 Wassenaar Arrangement (see 2007220015). Per a final rule released Sept. 10, BIS revised 28 Export Control Classification Numbers, altered license exceptions for four ECCNs, made technical changes to eight ECCNs and created one new ECCN for certain masks and reticles used for sensors. The rule follows a May 2019 rule that added controls to five technologies under the 2018 Wassenaar (see 1905220051).
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. company $55,000 for illegally exporting rifle scopes to Canada, a Sept. 3 order said. The company, New York-based Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC, shipped the scopes on 10 separate occasions despite knowing that the exports were subject to the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said. The company did not seek a license from BIS for the shipments, valued at nearly $890,000 combined. Carl Zeiss must pay the fine by Oct. 1 or risk having its export privileges revoked.
A long-awaited rewrite of routed export regulations by the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau will introduce a new “Export Responsibility Transfer Agreement” (ERTA) to replace the “writing” currently used to transfer filing responsibilities, with the new agreement specifically transferring filing and licensing responsibilities to the forwarder or agent of the foreign party, said Sharron Cook, a BIS senior export policy analyst, during a webcast of the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference Sept. 3.