The U.S. and the EU said they have made progress convincing other countries not to impose export restrictions on critical food supplies after an initial spike in the measures due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But leaders are still struggling to help Ukraine export its food supplies to the rest of the world, officials said, and they don’t expect that issue to be resolved anytime soon.
A Federal Maritime Commission proposal that would require container documentation to include the names of all non-vessel operating common carriers in a shipping transaction would create too large of a burden on industry, two logistics companies said in comments this month. One company said it wouldn’t be able to comply with the change, forcing it to regularly violate the regulation.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by a week a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced June 17. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until June 24.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to build on its ability to impose multilateral export controls, said senior BIS official Thea Kendler. Kendler, speaking during a conference last week hosted by the American Association of Exporters and Importers, said the agency wants to capitalize on the highly-coordinated Russia controls to better align future restrictions with a “core group of countries,” echoing comments made by Commerce officials earlier this year who voiced support for a new multilateral export control regime.
The Commerce Department and other government agencies can better tailor their outreach efforts to universities to mitigate export control risks in academia, the Government Accountability Office said in a report last week. Although Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI all conduct outreach with colleges to prevent illegal deemed exports and other sensitive technology transfers, they can do a better job identifying and analyzing export control “risk factors,” GAO said, and use their “limited resources” to make their outreach more efficient.
Export controls on their own haven’t historically proven to be very effective in stopping U.S. adversaries from acquiring illegal technologies and components, said Daniel Gerstein, a former export control official at the Department of Homeland Security. Gerstein, speaking during a June 16 Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee meeting, said the U.S. and other countries have “ample information telling us that they have not been particularly effective, even for sanctions regimes.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 16 suspended the export privileges of Belavia Belarusian Airlines, the country’s state-owned national airline, for violating U.S. export controls against Belarus. BIS issued a 180-day temporary denial order for Belavia, which bans it from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The EU needs to modernize and revamp its regulations surrounding intangible technology transfers, which lack sufficient export control guidance, said Magnus Nordeus, vice chair of Digital Europe, a trade policy group. He also said EU companies want more predictability from U.S. export controls, which can be especially difficult to manage for small- and medium-sized businesses.
The Census Bureau is considering a new pilot program that could test the elimination of some export reporting requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico, said Omari Wooden, Census’ assistant division chief for trade outreach and regulations. Officials have so far crafted two proposals that are being discussed “internally,” Wooden said, and would first seek public comment before implementing a potential pilot.
The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn’t given up on a rule to clarify how U.S. companies can participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List, a senior BIS official said this week. Despite yearslong clamoring for the clarification from technology associations and companies, the rule is facing a lengthy internal review process not only from other agencies but also from different bureaus within the Commerce Department, said Hillary Hess, BIS’s regulatory policy director.