The Senate on July 23 passed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes an amendment that would increase oversight of exports of gun silencers. The amendment, proposed July 20 by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., would require Congress to review and certify all proposed export licenses for silencers, mufflers and firearms sound suppressors before the sale can be completed under the license. The requirement would apply to exports to any “foreign nongovernmental person, group, or organization … regardless of the dollar value.” The amendment would also require the secretary of state to determine that the export does not pose a risk of being retransferred to terrorist groups or criminal organizations. The State Department recently relaxed its policy for exports of gun suppressors to handle those shipments similarly to other U.S. Munitions List controlled technologies (see 2007130014).
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls saw a “significant uptick” in license requests from foreign companies after the agency issued guidance on U.S. people exporting defense services abroad, DDTC Director of Licensing Catherine Hamilton said. The agency also saw an increase in voluntary disclosures as foreign companies realized they may have violated regulations, Hamilton said.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls notified industry of a newly added category in the agency’s DS-6004 reexport/retransfer application, a notice issued July 20 said. DDTC said it added an “'other' category” to Block 4” of the application, which should be selected by companies submitting general correspondence requests related to mergers and acquisitions, entity name or address changes, registration code changes, U.S. persons providing defense services abroad, end-use or end-user change requests; and amendments to existing general correspondence approvals.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to reflect recent changes made by the United Nations to its Central African Republic arms embargo (see 2007200005 and 1909170054), a notice released July 21 said. The change, effective July 22, allows for more exemptions for certain exports to the region. DDTC also specified that “no broker … may engage in” CAR-related brokering activities subject to the ITAR without agency approval. The notice also makes two technical edits to ITAR language.
A Lebanese national was sentenced to 42 months in prison for conspiring to illegally export U.S. drone parts and technology to Hezbollah, the Justice Department said July 20. Usama Darwich Hamade violated the international Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Export Administration Regulations, the Arms Export Controls Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations when he tried to illegally export a range of U.S.-origin items, including “inertial measurement units,” digital compasses, a jet engine, piston engines and recording binoculars. During an investigation, the Justice Department said the U.S. discovered Hezbollah was the “ultimate beneficiary” of the exports.
The State Department published its spring 2020 regulatory agenda. The agenda includes a new mention of a final rule to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations due to changes made by multilateral export regimes. The rule would update the U.S. Munitions List and “corresponding parts of the ITAR” based on “related treaties” and export regimes, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement, that have updated their export controls. The agency is aiming to issue the rule this month.
As part of its revised policy on gun suppressor exports (see 2007130014), the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will not authorize suppressor shipments without an ultimate end-user listed on the license, according to a July 15 alert from Reeves & Dola. The law firm said it reached out to DDTC for clarification about its new policy and was told that suppressor exports licenses must list a specific end-user for the customer. “In other words, license applications that state ‘for commercial resale in NAMED COUNTRY’ as an end-use/end-user will not be acceptable for suppressors,” the alert said.
President Donald Trump’s executive order ending preferential treatment for Hong Kong details a range of sanctions authorities and export bans but includes a carve-out for certain defense exports authorized before the order was issued. The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a July 15 guidance to clarify the new restrictions and answer industry questions.
The Commerce Department published its spring 2020 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security. The agenda includes a new mention of a rule to control “software” for the operation of “automated nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers” capable of designing and building “functional genetic elements from digital sequence data.” BIS said the software can be used in the production of pathogens and toxins, with the potential for those to make their way into biological weapons if export controls on the software are lacking. The notice of proposed rulemaking, part of BIS’ effort to control emerging and foundational technologies (see 2005190052), will request industry comments about how the controls might affect “legitimate commercial or scientific applications.” BIS said it aims to issue the proposed rule this month.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls rescinded its policy for exports of firearms sound suppressors and will instead handle those shipments “in a manner consistent” with other U.S. Munitions List controlled technologies, DDTC said July 10. DDTC’s policy previously called for “enhanced guidelines” for approving export licenses for suppressors and restricted exports to “only official end users such as government or military entities,” the agency said.