The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a proposed rule May 21 to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule III substance under the Controlled Substances Act. If the transfer is finalized, regulatory controls applicable to Schedule III substances would apply, though “existing marijuana-specific requirements” will continue to apply and “additional controls … might be implemented,” including import and export authorization requirements under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the DEA said. Marijuana would also remain subject to FDA regulation, and a “drug containing a substance within the CSA's definition of ‘marijuana’ would need FDA approval” to be introduced into interstate commerce, unless an investigational new drug application is in effect. Marijuana is currently classified in Schedule I. Comments are due July 22.
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The U.S. hasn’t done enough to coordinate its China-related trade restrictions with U.S. allies, especially its semiconductor export controls, Craig Allen, head of the U.S.-China Business Council, told Biden administration officials this week.
China added three U.S. defense companies, including a business unit of Boeing, to its Unreliable Entity List for arms sales to Taiwan, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced May 20. The agency said it added Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security unit, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and General Dynamics Land Systems to the list, prohibiting them from participating in “import and export activities related to China” and subjecting them to other restrictions, according to an unofficial translation.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee this week plans to mark up a bill that is intended to help the Bureau of Industry and Security control exports of artificial intelligence systems and other new national security-related technologies (see 2405100063).
The Bureau of Industry and Security has drafted an interim final rule that could update or clarify how export controls apply to releases of technology for standards setting or development in standards organizations. The agency sent the rule for interagency review May 17. BIS last issued updates to these controls in 2022, when it expanded an authorization for the release of controlled technology for certain standards-setting activities, including when companies on the Entity List are participating in those bodies (see 2209080038).
A Virginia-based technology company said it received warning letters from both the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control after disclosing possible Russia-related sanctions violations to both agencies last year.
U.S. export controls may not be the best way to counter China’s legacy semiconductor industry, especially because the EU and other allies aren’t likely to adopt similar restrictions, researchers said this month. The researchers said they expect the U.S. to turn more frequently to entity-based controls -- including through the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List -- and other national security tools to address risks relating to more mature-node chips.
The U.K. on May 17 corrected one entry under its sanctions regime for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and another under its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime. The changes update identifying information for Sylvestre Mudacumura, commander of the FDLR-FOCA armed rebel group in Congo, and Radulan Sahiron, who is wanted by the Philippines for terrorism offenses.
Syrian businessperson Issam Anbouba remains subject to EU sanctions after the EU General Court on May 15 sustained his listing based on criteria issued in 2023 but annulled the criteria issued in 2022, according to an unofficial translation.