BIS Expands Control Exemption for Standard Setting to All on Entity List

The Bureau of Industry and Security on Sept. 8 released an interim final rule expanding an authorization for the release of some controlled software and technology to all entities on the agency’s Entity List if the release is for the purposes of standards-setting activities. Previously, the authorization had applied only for some Entity List entities, namely Huawei and its affiliates. The interim rule takes effect Sept. 9.

The long-anticipated interim final rule also amends definitions related to the authorization, including by setting a new definition for what is a standards-setting activity. It allows release of software and technology for cryptographic standards. The previously issued authorization had also only mentioned technology, and not software.

Industry had called for the expansion of the authorization in recent years, saying that restricting the authorization to Huawei was causing uncertainty and chilling participation in standards bodies. The national security threat from ceding U.S. participation “outweighs the risks related to the limited release of certain low-level technology and software to parties on the Entity List in the context of a ‘standards-related activity,’” BIS said in the new interim final rule.