The Bureau of Industry and Security’s Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) held a partially open meeting on March 6, 2012 to discuss, among other things, upcoming proposed and reproposed rules implementing elements of the Export Control Reform (ECR), including the transitional 600 series ECCNs proposed rule and the "specially designed" reproposed rule, and the upcoming rule implementing the changes adopted at the December 2011 Wassenaar Plenary.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced that the National Defense Stockpile Market Impact Committee, co-chaired by the Departments of Commerce and State, is seeking public comments by April 19, 2012, on the potential market impact of a proposed supplement to the Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Materials Plan. The Defense Logistics Agency proposes to establish three new material research and development projects involving cadmium zinc tellurium (CZT) substrates, trichlorobenzene (TCB), and rhenium alloy.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a reminder that U.S. firms are required to submit their calendar year 2011 annual reports on offsets agreements related to sales of defense articles or defense services to foreign countries or foreign firms by June 15, 2012. Reports are required to contain information on: (1) contracts for the sale of defense articles or defense services to foreign countries or foreign firms that are subject to offsets agreements exceeding $5,000,000 in value; and (2) offsets transactions completed in performance of existing offsets commitments for which offsets credit of $250,000 or more has been claimed from the foreign representative.
On March 16, 2012, Commerce Secretary John Bryson traveled to Florida to meet with local business leaders and discuss his priorities for supporting advanced manufacturing and encouraging exports. Bryson noted that March 2012 marks the two-year anniversary of the signing of the Executive Order that created the National Export Initiative with the goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014. In 2011, the value of U.S. exports of goods and services exceeded $2.1 trillion for the first time in U.S. history. He also stated the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KFTA) is estimated to increase U.S. exports by approximately $11 billion.
The Census Bureau has issued AES Broadcast #2012023 announcing that the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) will host an Automated Export System (AES) Compliance Seminar and AESPcLink Workshops in Houston, Texas on April 3-4, 2012. Census experts will cover the filing requirements of the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), how to classify commodities by providing an understanding of the Schedule B classification requirements, and provide a thorough overview of the AES. The second day will offer a hands-on AESPcLink training Workshop. Email documents@brokerpower.com for a copy of the March 16, 2012 broadcast. Full details available here.
The Census Bureau has issued AES Broadcast #2012021 as part of a new series of monthly educational broadcast messages on the Automated Export System. This month Census is highlighting AES error codes 256 (USPPI Postal Code Not Valid for State) and 628 (1st Unit of Measure Code / Schedule B/HTS Mismatch). The broadcast covers the reasons for these error messages and how to resolve them. Email documents@brokerpower.com for a copy of the March 18, 2012 broadcast.
On March 16, 2012, President Obama announced his decision to establish a new level for digital high performance computers (HPCs) that are subject to the notification procedure provided by section 1211 of the 1998 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 105-85). The new level will be 3.0 Weighted TeraFLOPS.
On March 15, 2012, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls announced the following entity name and/or address changes for new DDTC license applications (see each notice for specific instructions for currently approved, pending, and new DSP authorizations and agreements, etc.):
On March 2, 2012, the Office of Foreign Assets Control announced fourteen changes to its "Specially Designated Nationals" list. SDNs are (i) individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries or (ii) individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific. The assets of listed SDNs are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) held a partially open meeting on March 6, 2012 to discuss, among other things, the importance of voluntary self-disclosure as a mitigating factor in enforcement decisions, and steps taken to expedite procedures when no enforcement action is taken.