The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn’t given up on a rule to clarify how U.S. companies can participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List, a senior BIS official said this week. Despite yearslong clamoring for the clarification from technology associations and companies, the rule is facing a lengthy internal review process not only from other agencies but also from different bureaus within the Commerce Department, said Hillary Hess, BIS’s regulatory policy director.
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After receiving criticism this week for its lack of progress in a possible investigation of illegal exports to Huawei, a Bureau of Industry and Security spokesperson said the agency is “committed to fully investigating any allegation” of violations of the foreign direct product rule, including illegal shipments to the Chinese technology giant. The agency has come under criticism for not yet penalizing Seagate Technologies for potentially illegally exporting goods to Huawei (see 2206070011).
The U.S. should soon impose “hard-hitting” Magnitsky sanctions against Chinese artificial intelligence surveillance company Hikvision for its role in human rights violations in Xinjiang, which could help deter other companies from supporting the region’s surveillance complex, said Dahlia Peterson, a research analyst at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Although the U.S. added Hikvision to the Entity List in 2019 (see 2205090014), placing the company on the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List would “be a step forward,” Peterson said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security made several changes, corrections and clarifications to its export regulations and added a host of new Russian and Belarusian entities to its Entity List, it said in notices. One change adds a license requirement for certain medicine and food shipments to the two countries, and another change allows BIS to publicize export enforcement charging letters before a case is resolved.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 71 entities to its Entity List for supporting Russia’s military or for trying to illegally acquire U.S.-origin goods. The additions include 70 entities based in Russia and one based in Belarus, BIS said, and 66 of them are now subject to BIS’ Russia/Belarus foreign direct product rule. All the entities will require a license for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. No license exceptions will be available, and BIS will review applications under a policy of denial. Exports of certain food and medicine will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, the agency said. The additions, which will be published in the Federal Register June 6, take effect June 2.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week issued an editorial correction for a Russia-related entry on the Entity List. The change fixes the entry for Kaliningradnefteprodukt OOO.
Jonathan Yet Wing Soong, former employee at Universities Space Research Association, was charged with violating export control laws by shipping sensitive aeronautics software to a university in Beijing, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced. Soong, of San Jose, is charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and and one count of smuggling, which, respectively, carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's upcoming shift in its administrative enforcement policies could signal a more aggressive posture toward cracking down on illegal exports and may change how companies voluntarily disclose violations, a former BIS agent said. But some lawyers say the policies could represent a minor shift, and it may be too early to tell how they will affect compliance decisions.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.