FINAL RULES
PUBLISHED IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER DURING 1996
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, BUREAU OF EXPORT ADMINISTRATION
EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS
(15 CFR Part 768 et seq.)
NOTE: CHANGES TO THE EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS LISTED BELOW ARE NUMBERED CONSECUTIVELY, BEGINNING IN JANUARY OF THE NEW YEAR.
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1. Foreign
Availability Assessment: Initiation of an Assessment on
"Stored Program Controlled" Equipment for Testing
Integrated Circuits (61 FR 1189 on January 17, 1996)
2. Temporary
Extension of Export License Validity Period (61 FR
1559 on January 22, 1996)
3. Revisions
to the Export Administration Regulations: Reform of Computer
Export Controls; Establishment of General License G-CTP
(61 FR 2099 on January 25, 1996)
4. Public
Hearings on the Effects of Lifting the Export Ban on Alaskan
North Slope Crude Oil (61 FR 2484 on January 26,
1996)
5. Revisions
to the Commerce Control List: Items Controlled for Nuclear
Non-proliferation Reasons, Addition of Argentina, New Zealand,
Poland, South Africa, and South Korea to GNSG Eligible Countries
(61 FR 3555 on February 1, 1996)
6. Supplement
No. 17 to the Antiboycott Regulations (61 FR 3669 on
February 1, 1996)
7. Competitive
Enhancement and Defense Diversification Needs Assessment;
Proposed Collection; Comment Request (61 FR 4408 on
February 6, 1996)
8. Expansion of
General License GFW; Editorial Corrections to the Export
Administration Regulations (61 FR 5677 on February
14, 1996)
9. Revisions to
the Commerce Control List: Items Controlled for Nuclear
Non-proliferation Reasons, Addition of Argentina, New Zealand,
Poland, South Africa, and South Korea to GNSG Eligible Countries
(61 FR 6064 on February 15, 1996)
10. Exports to
Iran; Imposition of Economic Sanctions (61 FR 8471 on
March 5, 1996)
11. Export
Administration Regulations: Simplification of Export
Administration Regulations (61 FR 12714 on March 25,
1996)
12. Restrictive
Trade Practices or Boycotts (61 FR 14243 on April 1,
1996)
13. Alaskan
North Slope Crude Oil Exports; Establishment of License Exception
TAPS (61 FR 27255 on May 31, 1996)
14. Biological
Warfare Experts Group Meeting: Implementation of Changes to
Export Administration Regulations; ECCNs 1C991, 1C61B, 1B71E, and
1C91F (61 FR 41326 on August 8, 1996)
15. Request
for Comments on Effects of Foreign Policy-Based Export Controls (61
FR 51395 on October 1, 1996)
16. National
Defense Stockpile Market Impact Committee Request for Public
Comment (61 FR 51403 on October 2, 1996)
17. Commercial
Communications Satellites and Hot Section Technology for the
Development, Production or Overhaul of Commercial Aircraft
Engines (61 FR 54540 On October 21, 1996)
18. Simplification
of the Export Administration Regulations (61 FR 55740
On October 29, 1996)
19. Survey of
U.S. Chemical Industry to Ensure Compliance with the Provisions
of the Chemical Weapons Convention (61
FR 55786 on October 29, 1996)
20. Notice
of General Order Prohibiting Exports of Unprocessed Timber From
Certain Public Lands (61 FR 56942 on November 5,
1996)
21. Revisions
to the Export Administration Regulations: License Exceptions
(61 FR 64272 on December 4, 1996)
22. Licensing
of Key Escrow Encryption Equipment and Software (61
FR 65462 on December 13, 1996)
23. Revisions
to the Export Administration Regulations: Computer Revisions
(61 FR 67448 on December 23, 1996)
24. Encryption
Items Transferred from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce
Control List (61 FR 68572 on December 30, 1996)
1. Foreign Availability Assessment: Initiation of an Assessment on "Stored Program Controlled" Equipment for Testing Integrated Circuits (61 FR 1189 on January 17, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has initiated a Foreign Availability Assessment after denial of three applications for licenses to export stored program controlled equipment for testing integrated circuits to the People’s Republic of China. It is designed primarily to determine whether a specific license application should be approved, not to trigger removal of U.S. controls.
2. Temporary Extension of Export License Validity Period (61 FR 1559 on January 22, 1996)
Commentary: In light of the recent furloughs of government workers, the Bureau of Export Administration has extended the validity period for all validated licenses which would have expired during the months of December 1995 and January 1996 for two months.
3. Revisions to the Export Administration Regulations: Reform of Computer Export Controls; Establishment of General License G-CTP (61 FR 2099 on January 25, 1996)
Commentary: Implementing the President’s announcement of October 6, 1995, the Bureau of Export Administration has published important changes to the export controls on computers. This rule (1) creates a new General License G-CTP, (2) expands eligibility for existing general licenses, like General License G-DEST, G-TEMP and GCG, (3) makes all computers eligible for export under Special Licenses, (4) expands the Permissive Reexport authority under Part 774.2, (5) permits exporters to retain end-user documentation in their files, rather than submitting them with license applications. However, this interim rule imposes more onerous recordkeeping requirements than industry had hoped, and presages new reporting requirements under the New Forum.
Summary of Computer Export Controls: 61 FR 2099 on Jan. 25, 1996
| Computer Tier | Eligible Countries | Eligible Computers | Restricted Customers | Other Restrictions |
| #1 | Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, The Holy See, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. | G-DEST for
computers with CTP 0-2,000 MTOPS. G-CTP for computers greater than 2,000 MTOPS. |
||
| #2 | Country Group T (expect Mexico), Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Chad, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia (The), Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea (Republic of), Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Rwanda, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Thailand, Tuvalu, Uganda, Western Sahara, Western Samoa, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. | G-DEST for
computers with CTP 0-2,000 MTOPS. G-CTP for computers with CTP 2001-10,000 MTOPS IVL for computers with CTP exceeding 10,000 MTOPS |
||
| #3 | Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China (People’s Republic of), Comoros, Croatia, Djibouti, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, India, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia (the Former Yugoslav Republic of), Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia & Montenegro, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, and Yemen. | G-DEST for
computers with CTP 0-2,000 MTOPS G-CTP for computers with CTP 2001-7,000 MTOPS IVL for computers with CTP exceeding 7,000 MTOPS |
No exports under General License G-CTP to military end-users or end-uses, or to nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or missile prolifer-ators | No access by
nationals of Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan
or Syria. Products exported under General License G-CTP may not be reexported without prior written authorization |
| #4 | Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria | IVL required for all computer exports | Note OFAC licensing requirements |
Recordkeeping Requirements: This rule requires exporters to keep records relating to each export of a computer with a Composite Theoretical Performance ("CTP") equal to or greater than 2,000 Million Theoretical Operations Per Second ("MTOPS"). These records must include the date of shipment, name and address of the end-user and each intermediate consignee, CTP of each computer in shipment, volume of computers in shipment, end-use and dollar value of shipment.
4. Public Hearings on the Effects of Lifting the Export Ban on Alaskan North Slope Crude Oil (61 FR 2484 on January 26, 1996)
Commentary: Public hearings on this topic are rescheduled.
5. Revisions to the Commerce Control List: Items Controlled for Nuclear Non-proliferation Reasons, Addition of Argentina, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, and South Korea to GNSG Eligible Countries (61 FR 3555 on February 1, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has amended the nuclear controls on the Commerce Control List. This creates some new validated license requirements. This rule also removes Poland from General License GNSG national security restrictions, and adds Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea to the list of General License GNSG eligible countries.
6. Supplement No. 17 to the Antiboycott Regulations (61 FR 3669 on February 1, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has decided that certain requests from Jordan which previously were considered to be boycott-related no longer are prohibited or reportable.
7. Competitive Enhancement and Defense Diversification Needs Assessment; Proposed Collection; Comment Request (61 FR 4408 on February 6, 1996)
Commentary: The Office of Management and Budget is soliciting comments on whether a survey of defense diversification is proper.
8. Expansion of General License GFW; Editorial Corrections to the Export Administration Regulations (61 FR 5677 on February 14, 1996)
Commentary: Certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment classified under ECCN 3B01A now is eligible for General License GFW. A few corrections are made to General License G-CTP.
9. Revisions to the Commerce Control List: Items Controlled for Nuclear Non-proliferation Reasons, Addition of Argentina, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, and South Korea to GNSG Eligible Countries (61 FR 6064 on February 15, 1996)
Commentary: This makes editorial corrections to No. 5 above.
10. Exports to Iran; Imposition of Economic Sanctions (61 FR 8471 on March 5, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration published a final rule stating that it has delegated authority to issue licenses for exports and certain reexports to Iran to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
11. Export Administration Regulations: Simplification of Export Administration Regulations (61 FR 12714 on March 25, 1996)
Commentary: In 1993, Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown promised that the Bureau of Export Administration would re-write the Export Administration Regulations in "plain English". Some two and one half years later, we finally have a interim rule with request for comments which fulfills Brown’s promise.
Only two provisions of this rule are effective immediately: (1) repeal of the importer statement required for General License GCT, and (2) the new Special Comprehensive License provisions. The remainder of the interim rule will become effective on April 25, 1996. However, in light of the fact that exporters will have to revise their systems and re-train their staffs, full compliance will not be required until November 1, 1996.
The new regulations are easier to read, and have a more logical flow. They do not, however, change the scope of transactions which require an export license, except in one important way. The Bureau of Export Administration has introduced a new de minimis standard for reexport of foreign- origin technical data and/or software which incorporate small amounts of U.S.-origin technical data and/or software.
Among the more important changes are the following:
(1) No license is required for any export unless specifically stated in the regulations, reversing the prior presumption that a transaction is prohibited unless specifically authorized.
(2) The old statements of when a license was required have been consolidated into ten General Prohibitions.
(3) The terms "validated license" and "general license" have been replaced with the terms "license" and "license exception", respectively.
(4) A new Form BXA-748P Multipurpose Application will be created, which will be used for all license applications and commodity classification requests filed after June 15, 1996. It may be supplemented with new Forms BXA-748P-A Commodity Description Supplement and BXA-748P-B End-user Appendix.
(5) Other new Forms will include Form BXA-752P Statement by Foreign Consignee in Support of Special License Application, and Form BXA-711 Statement by Ultimate Consignee and Purchaser.
(6) The old general licenses have been consolidated into a smaller number of license exceptions, and have been given new names.
(7) The old Country Groups have been revised to reflect the end of the Cold War.
(8) The format of the Export Control Classification Numbers have been changed to conform to the European Union style.
(9) A useful new Country Chart describes the license requirements on a country-by-country basis, based on the various reasons for controls.
(10) The "knowledge" and "reason to know" language of the EAR has been replaced with a uniform "knowledge" standard throughout, except in cases where special statutes dictate alternative usage.
There are many other changes in practice and procedure under the EAR which companies will have to implement in the coming months. Compliance will require assistance from multiple entities within each exporting company. For example, classification under the new Export Control Classification Numbers will require assistance from engineering. Use of the new License Exceptions will require training the Traffic department and freight forwarders. Foreign consignees and purchasers will have to be trained in the use of the new Forms.
On balance, there are few real benefits from the regulatory reform effort, in light of the effort required to comply with the new EAR. The Bureau of Export Administration has invited specific comments, but further substantive reform at this point is highly unlikely.
12. Restrictive Trade Practices or Boycotts (61 FR 14243 on April 1, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration published a final rule adding a new Supplement No. 17 to the foreign boycotts section of the EAR. This Supplement states that certain requests from Jordan no longer are considered to be related to the boycott of Israel, in light of the fact that Jordan recently entered into a peace agreement with Israel.
13. Alaskan North Slope Crude Oil Exports; Establishment of License Exception TAPS (61 FR 27255 on May 31, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has created a new License Exception TAPS authorizing the export of crude oil from Alaska’s North Slope without a validated licenses.
14. Biological Warfare Experts Group Meeting: Implementation of Changes to Export Administration Regulations; ECCNs 1C991, 1C61B, 1B71E, and 1C91F (61 FR 41326 on August 8, 1996)
Commentary: This final rule amends Export Control Classification Numbers 1C991, 1C61B, 1B71E and 1C91F (and their counterparts under the old/new regulations) to conform to the Consultations of the Biological Warfare Experts Group held October16-19, 1995 in conjunction with the Australia Group’s plenary meeting. It modestly increases the validated license requirements for exports of items classified under these ECCNs.
15. Request for Comments on Effects of Foreign Policy-Based Export Controls (61 FR 51395 on October 1, 1996)
Commentary: Each year, the Bureau of Export Administration requests public comments on the effects of foreign policy-based export controls. Each year, the exporting community responds saying that foreign policy-based export controls result in forfeiture of sales to European and Asian competitors. Each year, the Administration extends the foreign policy-based export controls for another year. Recommendation: Take last year's comments, stamp them "REMINDER" and put them in an envelope addressed to Mickey Kantor.
16. National Defense Stockpile Market Impact Committee Request for Public Comment (61 FR 51403 on October 2, 1996)
Commentary: Public comments are requested on the Department of Defense's proposal to dispose of certain stockpiled materials.
17. Commercial Communications Satellites and Hot Section Technology for the Development, Production or Overhaul of Commercial Aircraft Engines (61 FR 54540 On October 21, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has transferred jurisdiction to control certain commercial communication satellites and hot section technology for aircraft engines from the State Department to the Commerce Department, and issued an Executive Order amending the license review procedures for such cases. (see E.O. 13020, amending E.O. 12981)
18. Simplification of the Export Administration Regulations (61 FR 55740 On October 29, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has extended the deadline for compliance with the "new" Export Administration Regulations from November 1, 1996 to December 31, 1996. Additional extensions are available upon written request.
19. Survey of U.S. Chemical Industry to Ensure Compliance with the Provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (61 FR 55786 on October 29, 1996)
Commentary: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).
20. Notice of General Order Prohibiting Exports of Unprocessed Timber From Certain Public Lands (61 FR 56942 on November 5, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration each year has to extend a prohibition contained in the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990 prohibiting the export of unprocessed timber from certain Western states. It has extended the ban for another year, pursuant to this Order.
21. Revisions to the Export Administration Regulations: License Exceptions (61 FR 64272 on December 4, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has revised the Export Administration Regulations by reorganizing the License Exceptions. The License Exceptions had been bundled together in a single section, bearing a group symbol to be used for export clearance purposes. This final rule splits the list-based License Exceptions into separate sections, each with its own symbol.
22. Licensing of Key Escrow Encryption Equipment and Software (61 FR 65462 on December 13, 1996)
Commentary: This interim final rule amends the Export Administration Regulations to set forth the export licensing requirements for encryption products which implement key escrow meeting the Clinton Administration’s "Clipper 3.0" guidelines.
23. Revisions to the Export Administration Regulations: Computer Revisions (61 FR 67448 on December 23, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has published a final rule which makes important changes to the export controls on computers classified under Export Control Classification Number 4A003. Among other revisions, this rule provides that computers with a CTP of 2000 MTOPS or less are eligible for export to all countries (except terrorist or embargoed countries) under "No License Required" (NLR).
24. Encryption Items Transferred from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List (61 FR 68572 on December 30, 1996)
Commentary: The Bureau of Export Administration has published an interim rule with request for comments which sets forth the new rules for exports of "dual use" encryption products transferred from the U.S. Munitions List of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to the Commerce Control List of the Export Administration Regulations. In essence, these rules codify many of the more onerous aspects of practice under the ITAR, and retain few of the benefits which exporters expected to receive from transfer.