Commerce Planning to Release Six Proposed Emerging Technology Controls, BIS Official Says

BOSTON -- The Commerce Department is preparing six initial proposed rules to control exports of emerging technologies and hopes to release at least one before the end of the year, said Karen Nies-Vogel, the director of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Exporter Services, speaking during a Dec. 13 event hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center. A Commerce official said during a technical advisory committee meeting earlier this month that the agency is working on at least three rules (see 1912100019). While Commerce officials have said the technologies would be published this year (see 1910290062), delays have caused the publication to be pushed back.

Nies-Vogel did not discuss specifics of the six proposals, saying the rules may not be published until next year but that the agency's goal is to publish them “as soon as possible.” She said Commerce has created interagency teams to work on the proposed rules for emerging technologies, which the agency calls “sprint groups.” The groups are specifically tasked with controlling narrow slices of emerging technologies, Nies-Vogel said, not broad categories such as all of robotics or artificial intelligence, which is a scenario some stakeholders fear (see 1911070014). She said the sprint groups will continue to “meet on an ongoing basis” as the BIS continues to roll out controls on emerging technologies.