The State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System registration and licensing applications will be unavailable to users 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT May 23 for scheduled system maintenance. Users should ensure any work in progress is saved before the downtime period.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is extending the comment period for an information collection related to a request for appointment of a Technical Advisory Committee. The collection describes the functions and responsibilities of the Commerce Department TACs, which "advise the government on proposed revisions to export control lists, licensing procedures, assessments of the foreign availability of controlled products, and export control regulations.” BIS originally sought feedback on the information collection in February (see 2402080017), and the agency is allowing for another 30 days of comments from after the notice is published on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on May 21 defended the U.S. government's use of sanctions against China, saying the Biden administration resorts to punitive measures only when diplomatic efforts fail to achieve the desired result.
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.