The Bureau of Industry and Security recently completed interagency reviews for two final rules. One rule will make revisions to the Unverified List and clarify criteria that may lead to Entity List additions (see 2209300020), and another rule will provide guidance on penalty determinations in anti-boycott-related settlements (see 2209270011). The reviews were completed Sept. 29 and Sept. 26, respectively.
BIS Entity List
The Entity List is a BIS trade restriction list consisting of entities deemed a national security concern and therefore subject to license requirements for exporting specified items, such as some U.S. technologies. Inclusion on the Entity List is more severe than being placed on the Unverified List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review that would revise the Unverified List. Sent for review Sept. 29, the rule would also clarify activities and criteria that could lead to additions to the Entity List.
The Commerce Department published its spring 2022 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including two new mentions of rules that could result in new emerging technology export controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's upcoming shift in its administrative enforcement policies could signal a more aggressive posture toward cracking down on illegal exports and may change how companies voluntarily disclose violations, a former BIS agent said. But some lawyers say the policies could represent a minor shift, and it may be too early to tell how they will affect compliance decisions.
Although the Commerce and State departments have been able to conduct some export end-use checks during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said both agencies continue to face challenges scheduling on-site inspections.
China objected to the U.S. decision to add 33 Chinese entities to its Unverified List, it said in a Feb. 7 news release. The Bureau of Industry and Security made the additions, which included universities and companies operating in China's technology and electronics sectors, due to its inability to verify the reliability of the entities through end-use checks (see 2202070012). According to an unofficial translation, China's Ministry of Commerce said that the U.S. should immediately correct its perceived wrongdoing and return to mutual beneficial cooperation. MofCom characterized this action, along with the U.S. past export control moves, as tools of "political suppression and economic bullying." A BIS spokesperson dubbed its end-use checks a "core principle" of the agency's export control system.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 33 Chinese entities to its Unverified List this week, including universities and companies operating in China's technology and electronics sectors. BIS hasn’t been able to verify the “legitimacy and reliability” of the entities through end-use checks, including their ability to responsibly receive controlled U.S. exports, the agency said in a notice. The UVL additions take effect Feb. 8
The Bureau of Industry and Security will add 33 Chinese entities to its Unverified List this week, including a range of companies operating in China's technology and electronics sectors, it said in a notice released Feb. 7. BIS said it hasn’t been able to verify the “legitimacy and reliability” of the entities through end-use checks, including their ability to responsibly receive controlled U.S. exports. All export license exceptions involving those parties will be suspended, and exporters must obtain a statement from any party listed on the UVL before proceeding with certain exports.
The Commerce Department published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including a new mention of an export control rule for crime-control items and a rule that would reorganize provisions of the foreign direct product rule in federal regulations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 34 entities under 43 entries to Entity List, BIS said in a final rule. Fourteen of those entities are based in China and “have enabled Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regions of China (XUAR), where the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity,” the Commerce Department said in a news release. Another five of the entities were “directly supporting PRC’s military modernization programs related to lasers and C4ISR programs, Commerce said.