BIS Updates UAE Policy Due to End of Israeli Boycott

The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule to reflect the United Arab Emirates formally ending its participation in the Arab League Boycott of Israel. Under the rule, effective June 8, certain “requests for information, action or agreement from the UAE” will not be “presumed to be boycott-related” -- and therefore not restricted or reportable under the Export Administration Regulations -- if they were made before Aug. 16, 2020, BIS said.

The agency also added an “interpretation” to the EAR’s Restrictive Trade Practices or Boycotts regulations, which provides BIS’s view that the prohibitions in the antiboycott provisions don't apply to “such requests from the UAE made after” Aug. 16, 2020. BIS also reminded industry that requests “that are on their face boycott-related or that are for action obviously in furtherance or support of an unsanctioned foreign boycott are” still restricted “irrespective of the country of origination.”

The rule also contains examples of exporting activities involving the UAE that are no longer captured by the antiboycott provision. The announcement was issued about two months after the Treasury Department removed the UAE from its list of countries that may require participation with an international boycott (see 2104080031).