Seven countries aligned themselves with the European Union's December decision to renew the existing restrictive measures on individuals and entities that have committed serious human rights violations, the European Council said Jan. 26. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine will implement in their national policies the EU's decision to extend the human rights sanctions regime for another 12 months, until Dec. 8, 2022.
The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology is extending the comment period for a study on investment, supply chain and marketplace trends in eight emerging technology areas, the agency said in a notice. NIST is specifically seeking feedback to help guide the development of artificial intelligence, the internet of things in manufacturing, quantum computing, blockchain technology, new and advanced materials, unmanned delivery services, IOT and 3D printing. The comments, originally due Jan. 31 but now due Feb. 15, will help inform a NIST report to Congress on those emerging technologies. The Bureau of Industry and Security is studying each of these areas for potential export controls as part of its emerging and foundational technology effort under the Export Control Reform Act (see 2110280040).
Out of all the government’s export control regulations, two aerospace industry officials said they are spending the most time trying to comply with the Bureau of Industry and Security’s military end-user and end-use rule.
After a thermal imaging industry official this week said the Commerce Department hasn’t significantly updated its export controls surrounding infrared technologies since 2005 (see 2201260047), an agency spokesperson pointed to two recent regulatory actions that they said have updated controls.
As the U.S. and the European Union both prepare their own set of Russian sanctions and export controls, a senior U.S. official said the measures may not be identical but will align very closely to avoid hurting the competitiveness of U.S. firms. Peter Harrell, a National Security Council official, also said the trade restrictions won’t amount to an embargo against “everyday” Russian consumers, and will likely include exemptions and a wind-down period.
Several federal government agencies issued guidance for doing business in Myanmar Jan. 26. The advisory issued by the departments of State, the Treasury, Commerce, Labor and Homeland Security and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warns of "heightened risks associated with doing business in the country, and in particular with the military regime." The advisory document warns that businesses and individuals with ties to the military regime may face significant risks, including violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws and sanctions. The warning strongly suggests that the business community should further review and update their risk assessments associated with continuing to do business with Burma’s state-owned enterprises.
The Commerce Department’s Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee submitted three Wasseanar proposals to Commerce to consider for the 2022 cycle, including two updates to previously submitted proposals. The proposals, which involve Category 6 items (sensors and lasers) on the Commerce Control List, include diode laser bar controls (6A005.d.1.c.1), an updated proposal for green lasers (6.A.5.b.3.a.2) and an updated proposal for certain semiconductor lasers (6.A.5.d.1.a), the committee said during a Jan. 25 meeting.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should update its export controls surrounding infrared technologies to allow U.S. companies to better compete with foreign firms, said Mike Muench, CEO of Seek Thermal, a thermal imaging company. Muench, speaking during a Jan. 25 meeting of the Commerce Department’s Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee, said BIS hasn’t “significantly” updated its infrared technology controls since 2005, when the infrared sector was dramatically different. “That was several generations ago, relatively speaking, in the technology space,” Muench said. “We really believe it's time for us to address some of these changes to allow U.S. firms to be more competitive.”
The House’s America Competes Act of 2022 would revise and introduce a range of new export control and sanctions provisions, including new restrictions on exports of electronic waste-related goods, more designations targeting China for human rights abuses and a repeal of the sunset of the Magnitsky human rights sanctions regime. The bill, unveiled this week as the response to the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, would also require the Biden administration to conduct “periodic” reviews over its export controls for surveillance equipment, urges the administration to reexamine U.S. export policies for countries that supply weapons to terrorist organizations and calls for better harmonization of U.S. export control and sanctions policies with allies.
The European Council condemned recent aggressive action from Russia that has heightened tensions with Ukraine. In Jan. 24 conclusions on the European security situation, the council promised "massive consequences and severe costs" for any greater Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which includes "a wide array of sectoral and individual restrictive measures" that would be taken up by the European Union and its partners.