The Australia Group and Nuclear Suppliers Group are both performing comprehensive reviews of aspects of their export control lists, and the Wassenaar Arrangement is in the preliminary phases of such a review, said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Vann Van Diepen in remarks at the Update 2012 Conference on Export Controls and Policy. In his remarks, Van Diepen highlighted key developments in multilateral regime export controls over the past year. Highlights include:

The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations, effective July 23, by: (1) removing United Nations Embargo (UN) controls on Rwanda; (2) removing machetes from the Commerce Control List; and (3) requiring a license to export or reexport certain items to countries subject to UN Security Council arms embargo, with a presumptive denial policy. The removal of Rwanda from UN controls implements the UN’s 2008 termination of the arms embargo against Rwanda, BIS said. BIS is removing machetes from the CCL because they were added only to address concerns with their use in Rwanda in particular.

The Census Bureau issued AES Broadcast #2012047 as part of a series of monthly educational broadcast messages on the Automated Export System. This month Census is highlighting AES error codes 138 (Port of Unlading Missing) and 649 (QUANTITY 1 CANNOT EXCEED SHIPPING WEIGHT). The broadcast covers the reasons for the these error messages and how to resolve them, as follows:

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the “Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report” for the week of July 18-24, westbound transpacific trade lanes at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ from the 10 member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA)². Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is putting a high priority on disrupting networks that procure parts and components for use in improvised explosive devices (IEDs), said BIS Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Mills in the opening remarks for the second day of the Update 2012 Conference on Export Controls and Policy. IED procurement networks mostly trade in electronic components with widespread consumer applications, Mills said. These components can be exported to most countries without a license, but are then being reexported to destinations requiring a license for use in making IEDs, he said. Mills also emphasized BIS’ patience and persistence in export investigations, which can often lead to discovery of other related violations by other companies in a network, and encouraged companies to submit voluntary self disclosures if they have committed violations.

The Bureau of Industry and Security's Materials Technical Advisory Committee will meet at 10 a.m. Aug. 9 in the Herbert C. Hoover Building, Room 3884, 14th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. The Committee advises the Export Administration on technical questions on the level of export controls applicable to materials and related technology. The meeting will include a closed portion. Additional information: Yvette Springer at Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov.

The Bureau of Industry And Security's Materials Processing Equipment Technical Advisory Committee will meet at 9 a.m. Aug. 7 in Room 3884, Herbert C. Hoover Building, 14th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. The Committee advises the Export Administration on technical questions that affect export controls on materials processing equipment and related technology. A portion of the meeting will be closed. Additional information: Yvette Springer at Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov.

Information technology is one of the four pillars of Export Control Reform, and “as time continues on, we’ll loom larger,” said Bernie Kritzer, director of the Office of Exporter Services at the Update 2012 Conference on Export Controls and Policy in Washington July 17-19. Kritzer and his colleagues discussed several IT-related initiatives BIS is working on, including address verification in SNAP-R, the transition of the back-end of the licensing process to the interagency USXPORTS platform, and BIS’ eventual hopes for a single submission platform, among other things.

The Department of Defense is concerned about the unintended consequences of licenses for some items and some aspects of Export Control Reform in general, said Rizwan Ramakdawala of the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) during a panel on reshaping the control lists at the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Update 2012 Conference on Export Controls and Policy July 17-19 in Washington.

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 August 17, 2012, on the potential market impact of a proposed supplement to the Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Materials Plan. The Committee proposes changes to R&D projects involving cadmium zinc tellurium (CZT) substrates and triamino trinitrobenzene (TATB), and pertain to four materials: germanium; manganese, metallurgical grade; platinum - iridium; and zinc.