DDTC Revises Aircraft-Related Control Note in USML

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a final rule last week to temporarily modify a note within its aircraft-related export controls under Category VIII of the U.S. Munitions List.

The agency said it’s in U.S. “security and foreign policy interests” to allow manufacturers to apply for export licenses to “participate in development of the KF-21 aircraft” -- a jet that hasn’t yet begun production -- “by reusing certain defense articles described in” that USML note, which is listed under (h)(1) of Category VIII. DDTC said it’s modifying that note “such that parts, components, accessories, and attachments specially designed for aircraft identified in paragraph (h)(1) are not released from that paragraph due to their reuse in the KF-21 aircraft or variants thereof.”

“The Department assessed that this temporary modification does not change the export jurisdiction or classification of any existing commodities, as it only prevents the possibility of future release from paragraph (h)(1) due to use in the KF-21, which has not yet entered into production,” DDTC said. “Therefore, when the KF-21 enters production, any paragraph (h)(1) commodities authorized for export for this purpose will retain their current export classification described in paragraph (h)(1).”

The change takes effect Dec. 4 and will expire Dec. 1, 2024, “or when terminated by the Department, whichever occurs first.”