State Department Outlines Criteria for Lawful Drone Trade

The State Department is putting into force control guidelines for exports of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), known commonly as drones, the agency said Monday. State didn’t say when it would publish regulations on the guidelines, but said end users will have to meet the following criteria: Recipients are to use these systems in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as applicable; armed and other advanced UAS are to be used in operations involving the use of force only when there is a lawful basis for use of force under international law, such as national self-defense; recipients are not to use military UAS to conduct unlawful surveillance or use unlawful force against their domestic populations. Also this week, the White House released a memo on drone privacy, and the Federal Aviation Administration released a draft of proposed rules for commercial drone operations (see 1502170038 and 1502160003).