BIS Regulatory Agenda Includes New Mention of Emerging Tech Rules
The Commerce Department published its spring 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including two new mentions of emerging technology rules and new export controls on certain camera systems.
The agenda includes a new mention of a pre-rule that would request comments on potential export controls on “certain brain computer interface” (BCI) emerging technology, BIS said. The agency said BCI technology is “part of a representative list of technology categories” that are important for U.S. national security and “for which effective controls can be implemented.” BIS said it will ask for feedback about whether BCI technology can provide the U.S. or its adversaries with a “qualitative military or intelligence advantage” and how it can best impose controls to “be effective and appropriate” with minimal impact on “legitimate commercial or scientific application.” The agency plans to issue the rule next month.
The agenda also includes a new mention of a proposed rule to designate certain semiconductor items as emerging technologies. BIS said it will propose a revision to the Commerce Control List to designate exports of “extreme ultraviolet (EUV) masks, reticles, and pellicles” as emerging technologies (see 2010020042). Those items may warrant more strict controls if they pose a “national security threat” to the U.S., BIS said. The agency said it had planned to issue the rule in May.
Another new rule would revise license requirements for certain cameras, systems or related components. The final rule would better align the agency’s controls with “technological and commercial developments.” BIS had aimed to issue the rule in May.
The agenda also newly mentioned a final rule that would transfer licensing jurisdiction over exports of deuterium for non-nuclear end use from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to BIS. Under the rule, all exports, reexports and transfers of the deuterium would be subject to the licensing jurisdiction of the Export Administration Regulations. BIS hopes to issue the rule in August.
Agenda Highlights
Highlights of the BIS rulemakings that are at the proposed, final or completed stages, are below. New items are marked with an asterisk (*).
| Pre-Rule Stage |
|---|
| *Request for Comments Concerning the Imposition of Export Controls on Certain Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Emerging Technology |
| Proposed Rule Stage |
| Clarification of the Definition of a Routed Export Transaction |
| License Exception AVS Updates and Clarifications |
| Nuclear Propulsion Plant End-Use Restrictions; Restrictions on Shipments to Aircraft and Vessels or to Installations and Facilities Located in International or Foreign Waters or in Antarctica |
| Commerce Control List: Amendments to Controls Related to Military Vehicles, Vessels of War, Submersible Vessels, Oceanographic Equipment, and Auxiliary and Miscellaneous Military Equipment |
| Commerce Control List Changes due to Revisions to Categories V, X and XI of the U.S. Munitions List (USML) |
| Information Security Controls: Cybersecurity Items |
| Review of Commerce Control List for Items Transferred From United States Munitions List Categories IV and XV |
| Export Controls for Quantum Computers |
| Identification and Review of Controls for Certain Foundational Technologies |
| Export Controls for Additive Manufacturing Equipment for Printing of “Energetic Materials” |
| Additional Protocol Regulations: Establishment of a Mandatory Electronic Submission Requirement for Reports |
| Commerce Control List: Proposed Revisions to the Controls on Certain Spraying or Fogging Systems and “Parts” and “Components” Therefor; Request for Comments |
| Export Controls for Certain Semiconductor Items |
| Emerging Technology Proposed Controls |
| Revisions to the Export Administration Regulations: Items Controlled for Crime Control Reasons |
| *Export Controls for Certain Semiconductor Items: Lithography--Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Masks, Reticles, and Pellicles |
| *Proposed Additional General Approved Exclusions for Steel Articles |
| Final Rule Stage |
| Control of Firearms, Guns, Ammunition and Related Articles the President Determines No Longer Warrant Control Under the United States Munitions List (USML); Corrections |
| Revisions, Clarifications, and Technical Corrections to the EAR |
| Removal of Certain General Approved Exclusions (GAEs) under the Section 232 Steel and Aluminum Tariff Exclusions Process |
| Updated Statements of Legal Authority for the Export Administration Regulations |
| Revisions to the Export Administration Regulations: Implementation of Sanctions on Russia |
| Modification of License Exception Additional Permissive Reexports (APR) |
| Amendments to Existing Validated End-User Authorizations in the People's Republic of China and India: Samsung China Semiconductor Co. Ltd and GE India Industrial Pvt Ltd. |
| Multi-Gate Field-Effect Transistors (FET) Technology |
| Addition of Huawei Non-U.S. Affiliates to the Entity List, the Removal of Temporary General License, and Amendments to General Prohibition Three (Foreign-Produced Direct Product Rule) |
| Amendments to Country Groups for Pakistan Under the Export Administration Regulations |
| Release of Technology to Standards Organizations |
| Commerce Control List: Proposed Controls on "Software" for the Operation of Certain Automated Nucleic Acid Assemblers and Synthesizers; Request for Comments |
| Amendment to Country Groups for Ukraine, Mexico and Cyprus Under the Export Administration Regulations |
| Export Administration Regulations: Corrections and Clarifications |
| Removal of Hong Kong as a Separate Destination Under the Export Administration Regulations |
| Increasing Transparency of 232 Investigations by Requiring a Public Submission for a Request or Application for an Investigation |
| Editorial Revisions, Clarifications, and Corrections to the Export Administration |
| Commerce Control List: Amendments to Reflect Updates to the Australia Group Common Control Lists |
| *Termination of 232 Investigations |
| Implementation in the Export Administration Regulations of the United States' Rescission of Sudan's Designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism |
| *Expansion of Certain End-Use and End-User Controls and Controls on Specific Activities of U.S. Persons |
| *Burma: Implementation of Sanctions |
| *Control of Deuterium That is Intended for Use Other Than in a Nuclear Reactor or Nuclear Facility Under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) |
| *Revision of Licensing Requirements of Certain Cameras, Systems, or Related Components |
| *Addition of Entities to the Entity List |
| *Amendment to the Export Administration Regulations: Termination of United Arab Emirates Participation in the Arab League Boycott of Israel |
| *Addition of Entities, Revision of Entries, and Removal of Entity from the Entity List; and Revision of Entry Removal of Entity from the Military End-User List (MEU) |