The Bureau of Industry and Security should establish a blanket exemption for U.S. people and companies to participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List, industry officials said. Although BIS has been working on a final rule (see 2012150037) that would clarify how export restrictions apply to the release of controlled technology at standards-setting organizations, officials from the telecommunications industry and other technology sectors are unsure how the rule’s final language will read and are concerned some of the agency’s restrictions, which they view as unnecessary, may continue.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Sept. 7-10 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The Census Bureau hopes to soon announce a final decision on whether it will eliminate export filing requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, an issue it has considered for months as officials have searched for alternative sources to collect the export data (see 2104230025). But the agency hasn't been able to find a legitimate substitute for the data and seems unlikely to eliminate the restrictions, especially over strong objections by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week sent a final rule for interagency review that would expand export controls on certain biological equipment software. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Sept. 13, would amend the Commerce Control List by adding a new Export Control Classification Number to control software “for the operation of automated nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers” that are “capable of designing and building functional genetic elements from digital sequence data.”

Despite recent steps by the White House and the Federal Maritime Commission to address supply chain issues hampering agricultural exporters, the problems are worsening, trade groups said this week. Carriers are increasingly declining or canceling export bookings, ship delays are backlogging orders by months and agricultural exporters are seeing steep drops in revenue due to continually rising container costs, 76 trade associations said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a Texas hardware and software company more than $180,000 for illegally exporting goods, technology and services that were intended to be used in Iran, OFAC said Sept. 9. The company, NewTek, which develops and supplies live production and 3D animation hardware and software systems, voluntarily self-disclosed its 52 violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. OFAC said the company didn’t have an export control or sanctions compliance program.

U.S. penalties for illegal exports to China have risen dramatically this year compared with last, with about $6 million in fines handed out already, said Jeremy Pelter, the acting undersecretary for the Bureau of Industry and Security. Pelter told a bipartisan congressional commission this week that the agency during the 2021 fiscal year has issued about $1.86 million in criminal fines and more than $4 million in civil fines, skyrocketing past 2020’s penalties, which totaled about $60,000.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is willing to consider ways to accelerate its emerging and foundational technology control effort but won't abandon its multilateral efforts just to publish controls more quickly, a top official told a bipartisan congressional commission on China Wednesday. Acting BIS Undersecretary Jeremy Pelter acknowledged criticism that the agency is moving too slowly on the congressionally mandated export control effort but defended the work BIS has done so far and said the agency doesn’t plan to change course.

As the U.S. continues to bolster and reform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., industry lawyers have seen a sharp rise over the last few years in global foreign direct investment screening regimes. That trend may continue to accelerate, some said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Aug. 30 - Sept.3 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.