Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2662 actions· ✨ 89 recent

Final rule (RIN 0694-AJ93, FR Doc 2024-25445, 89 FR 87279) under which BIS expands the Russian and Belarusian Industry Sector Sanctions of the Export Administration Regulations to cover an enumerated list of chemical precursors used in the synthesis of chloropicrin and riot-control agents (CS, CN, CR), and adds associated technical clarifications. The action is the export- control complement to the US Department of State's annual report to Congress on Compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, which determined that Russia had used riot-control agents as a method of warfare against Ukrainian forces in violation of the CWC. Effective on publication, 1 November 2024.

MOTIE brought the 35th amendment of the Public Notice on Trade of Strategic Items into force on 9 September 2024, adding 243 items (notice Annex 2-2 numbers 1160-1402) to the situational-licence list for Russia and Belarus, taking that list to 1,402 items. The added items are described as having a high likelihood of military diversion (metal-cutting machinery, machine-tool parts, optical-equipment parts, sensors). Exports of the added items are prohibited in principle from 9 September, with licence applications admitted only for contracts concluded by 8 September and case-by-case categories such as exports to Korean companies' local subsidiaries. The same release tightens administrative penalties for deliberate export-control violations.

BIS final rule (FR Doc 2024-19132, 89 FR 68539, published 27 August 2024) expanding the Russia/Belarus-Military End User (MEU) Foreign-Direct Product (FDP) rule under the Export Administration Regulations so that it also applies to transactions involving Entity List entries posing a significant diversion risk to Russia's and Belarus's defense industry or intelligence services — the rule is renamed accordingly. The rule also imposes new export, reexport, and in-country transfer controls on software for the operation of computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools destined for Russia or Belarus, and makes corrections eliminating obsolete cross- references introduced by the BIS 25 January 2024 and 18 June 2024 Russia/Belarus final rules. Effective 27 August 2024, except amendatory instruction 11 effective 16 September 2024.

BIS final rule (FR Doc 2024-13148, 89 FR 51644, RIN 0694-AJ87) expanding the Export Administration Regulations' Russia and Belarus sanctions architecture. Effective 12 June 2024 (most provisions) and 16 September 2024 (the EAR99 enterprise-software paragraph at §746.8(a)(8)), the rule introduces a new licence requirement for thirteen named categories of EAR99 enterprise software (ERP, CRM, BI, SCM, EDW, CMMS, project management, PLM, BIM, CAD, CAM, ETO) destined for Russia or Belarus; permits address-only Entity List designations to capture high-diversion addresses; adds eight Hong Kong addresses to the Entity List; and refines the Russia/Belarus Industry Sector Sanctions and Foreign Direct Product (FDP) rule. Released the day before the G7 Italy summit alongside coordinated OFAC, State, and Treasury actions that together designated 300+ persons and entities.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule amending the Russia and Belarus sanctions under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to add License Exception Medical Devices (MED) at 15 CFR 740.23. The new exception authorises, without an individual licence, exports, reexports, and in-country transfers of EAR99 medical devices and EAR99 parts/components/accessories for exclusive use with such devices to Russia, Belarus, the temporarily occupied Crimea region of Ukraine, and the other covered regions of Ukraine. The exception carries verification conditions and excludes Entity List / military end-user recipients, "production" facilities, and any case where the exporter has knowledge the items will be diverted to weapons production.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule (FR Doc 2024-08622; Docket 240417-0112; 89 FR 30119) amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to expand the product scope of two Foreign Direct Product (FDP) rules — the Iran FDP rule and the Russia/Belarus/Temporarily occupied Crimea region of Ukraine FDP rule in 15 CFR 734.9(f) — to cover the entirety of the Common High Priority List (CHPL), an HTS-6 list developed jointly with the EU, Japan and the UK that identifies items used in Russian weapons production. The CHPL scope adds basic commercial-grade microelectronics (integrated circuits, RF transceiver modules), test/manufacturing equipment for electronic components, and CNC machine tools to the perimeter, requiring a BIS licence when these foreign-produced items are exported, reexported or transferred to Iran, Russia, Belarus or occupied Crimea. The rule was issued in response to Iran's 13 April 2024 attack on Israel and Iran's ongoing military support for the Russian war in Ukraine; it became effective 18 April 2024 (Federal Register publication 22 April 2024) with a transit grace period for in-flight shipments until 20 May 2024.

MOTIE brought the 33rd amendment of the Public Notice on Trade of Strategic Items into force on 24 February 2024 (announced 20 February 2024), adding 682 items to the Russia/Belarus situational-licence (상황허가) list, taking that list to 1,159 items. The added items span construction machinery, secondary batteries, machine tools and aircraft components judged to have high military-diversion potential. Situational- licence items are prohibited from export in principle from the effective date, with narrow exceptions such as pre-existing contracts and case-by- case review categories.

BIS final rule (FR Doc 2024-01408, 89 FR 4804, effective 23 January 2024) strengthens the EAR sanctions architecture against Russia and Belarus by adding 94 HTS-6 entries to the Russian and Belarusian Industry Sector Sanctions (§746.5/§746.8) — covering hand tools, parachutes, aircraft training simulators, and airplane/helicopter components — and expands the de minimis threshold for foreign-made goods incorporating US-origin 600-series and 9×515 items destined for Russia or Belarus. A parallel provision targets Iran's supply of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia by adding HTS code 852910 (antennas and antenna reflectors) to the §746.7 Iran export-control list. The rule also refines Crimea licensing to permit exports supporting Ukrainian Armed Forces deployments in occupied territories.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 42 entities under 44 entries to the Entity List, effective December 7, 2023. The majority — 28 entities in Russia — are sanctioned for procuring or contracting on behalf of Russia's defense sector, including avionics, military-grade drones, and military electronics. Fourteen additional entities across Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, China, and the UAE were added for operating diversion and transshipment networks that supply U.S.-origin items to Russian military end-users. All listed entities face a license requirement for all EAR-controlled items with a presumption of denial.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule on 19 May 2023 strengthening existing Export Administration Regulations (EAR) sanctions against Russia and Belarus. The rule expands the Foreign Direct Product (FDP) rule — which applies EAR jurisdiction to foreign-made items produced with US technology or equipment — to cover the temporarily occupied Crimea region of Ukraine. It also revises controls targeting Iran's supply of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia, closing loopholes identified in prior rounds of Russia-Ukraine-related export-control rulemaking.

MOTIE finalised the 31st amendment of the Public Notice on Trade of Strategic Items on 24 April 2023, effective 28 April 2023, adding 741 items to the Russia/Belarus situational-licence (상황허가) list. The added items span industrial machinery, petroleum and gas refining equipment, steel, chemicals, automotive goods and quantum computers judged to have high military-diversion potential. MOTIE stated the amendment brings Korea's export-control coverage of Russia/Belarus closer to that of the US, EU and Japan, incorporating 2022 international export-control-regime agreements and reflecting the US's 2nd-6th Russia sanctions rounds and a substantial part of the EU's measures.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 37 entities under 38 entries to the Entity List, effective March 2, 2023, spanning six destinations: China (28), Pakistan (4), Burma (3), Russia (1), Belarus (1), and Taiwan (1). The China tranche — the largest — targets entities supporting the People's Liberation Army's military modernization, including BGI Research and Forensic Genomics International (genomic surveillance/data risk), Inspur Group Co. Ltd. (cloud servers supplied to Chinese military), and Loongson Technology (domestic CPU developer). Three Burmese entities, including the Ministry of Transport and Communications, are designated for providing surveillance equipment enabling the military junta's tracking and targeting of civilians. Pakistani entities Abdul Razaq Asim, Add-On Technology, and Dynamic Engineers are added for contributing to Pakistan's ballistic missile programs; Russian DMT Electronics and Belarusian DMT Trading LLC for export-control evasion. All listed entities are subject to a license requirement for all items subject to the EAR, with the review policy being presumption of denial for the majority of Chinese entries.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) established a new Iran Foreign Direct Product (FDP) rule and created Supplement No. 7 to Part 746 of the EAR, effective 24 February 2023, to address Iran's supply of UAVs to Russia for use against Ukraine. The rule adds twelve HTS-6 codes covering UAV-relevant components — aircraft engines, processors, capacitors, memories, and radio navigation equipment — many of which are EAR99 items outside existing ECCNs, requiring a new licence for exports and reexports to Iran. Simultaneously, the rule expands the existing Russia/Belarus FDP rule to cover these same items, closing a gap where foreign-produced items derived from US technology could transit to Russia via Iran without triggering EAR licence requirements.

The Bureau of Industry and Security expanded EAR sanctions against Russia and Belarus effective 24 February 2023, adding 322 HTS-6 industrial items to Supplement No. 4 to Part 746 (oil-and-gas equipment, flat-rolled steel, pumps, turbines, marine and aviation engines) and 276 luxury goods to Supplement No. 5. Supplement No. 6 was amended to add biological and chemical-synthesis equipment including bioreactors, peptide synthesizers, and nucleotide reagents, targeting Russia's biodefence and dual-use procurement pathway. The rule also migrated Supplement No. 2 from Schedule B to HTS-6 identifiers to align with allied partner frameworks, added Taiwan to the list of countries excluded from licence requirements, and extended Section 744.7 end-use restrictions to cover in-country transfers inside Russia and Belarus.

The Bureau of Industry and Security expanded EAR sanctions against Russia and Belarus effective 15 September 2022, adding new export-control categories covering quantum computing equipment and related technology (new licensing requirements under a near-total policy of denial), discrete chemicals and biologics including fentanyl precursors and CBW-related production equipment (new Supplement No. 6 to Part 746), and 57 EAR99 industrial items added to the industry-sector sanctions list (Supplement No. 4). Six entities were concurrently designated as Russian Military End Users (MEU), and MEU/MIEU licensing restrictions were extended worldwide (previously limited to six countries). The rule also extended the Foreign Direct Product Rule to additional categories of foreign-made items.

Canada amended the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations via SOR/2022-167, registered and in force 25 June 2022, adding four new schedules targeting Belarus over its support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Schedule 3 bans export of advanced technologies (quantum computers, advanced manufacturing and cryogenic equipment); Schedule 4 bans export of luxury goods (Part 1) and import of luxury goods from Belarus (Part 2); Schedule 5 bans export of goods usable in weapons manufacturing, including raw materials such as tungsten, aluminium and titanium, engines, industrial machinery, vehicles, aircraft and maritime vessels. The same instrument added 13 Belarusian officials and 2 state entities to the asset-freeze list.

The Bureau of Industry and Security published a final rule on 6 June 2022 (effective 2 June 2022) consolidating corrections, clarifications, and substantive amendments to the series of EAR Russia/Belarus rules issued between February and May 2022. The most significant substantive change eliminates the EAR99 food and medicine carve-out for 146 footnote-3-designated military end-user entities already on the Entity List, subjecting all items subject to the EAR — including previously exempt food and medicine — to licensing requirements with a policy of denial for the FSB, SVR, and GRU. Additional provisions clarify luxury goods value thresholds, oil refinery sector controls, and civil telecommunications license review policy, and correct cross-references in the Foreign Direct Product Rules for Russia and Belarus.

The US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 71 entities — 70 Russian and 1 Belarusian — to the Entity List, effective June 2, 2022, in direct response to Russia's further invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The entities were designated as military end users acquiring or attempting to acquire US-origin items in support of Russia's military, and are subject to a policy of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Sixty-six entities receive a "footnote 3" military end-user designation, while five face outright denial with no license exceptions available beyond humanitarian food and medicine.

BIS finalized changes to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) governing controls on cybersecurity items — primarily intrusion software, command-and-control platforms, and surveillance tools capable of disrupting or monitoring information systems without authorization. The final rule, effective May 26 2022, revises License Exception ACE (Authorized Cybersecurity Exports) originally established by an October 2021 interim rule and narrows end-user carve-outs for government end users in Country Group D:5 and A:6 destinations. Exports of affected ECCNs (4A005, 4D001, 4D004, 4E001, 5A001.j, 5B001, 5D001, 5E001) to Country Groups E:1 and E:2 remain prohibited; D:1 through D:5 government-end-user transactions require a license.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule expanding license requirements under the EAR for all items on the Commerce Control List (CCL) destined for Russia and Belarus, retroactively effective April 8, 2022. The rule also removes certain license exceptions that previously allowed aircraft-related transactions involving Belarus to proceed without authorization. Issued in direct response to Russia's continued aggression in Ukraine and Belarus's role in enabling it, this measure substantially tightens the multilateral export- control perimeter first established by BIS in late February 2022.

BIS amended the Export Administration Regulations to add Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland to the list of countries excluded from certain EAR license requirements that apply to items destined for Russia or Belarus. The exclusion recognizes that these four countries have implemented substantially similar export-control regimes aligned with US restrictions, and applies specifically to the Foreign Direct Product (FDP) rule under EAR Part 734.9. The change reduces the licensing burden for entities in these partner countries when producing or handling items using US-origin technology or equipment in transactions with Russia/Belarus, consistent with the broader allied coordination approach adopted after February 2022.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding 120 entities under 120 entries to the Entity List, effective 1 April 2022 and published in the Federal Register on 7 April 2022. All 120 entities — located in Russia and Belarus — were determined to be acting contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests in the context of Russia's further invasion of Ukraine beginning 24 February 2022. The rule imposes a presumption-of-denial policy for all EAR-subject items and prohibits all license exceptions for exports, reexports, or in-country transfers to the listed parties. Ninety-five of the 120 entities are additionally designated under Footnote 3 of the Entity List as military end users, triggering the Russian/Belarusian Military End User foreign-produced direct product rule (MEU FDP Rule), extending US extraterritorial reach to non-US items made with US-origin technology.

Canada amended the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations via SOR/2022-075, registered and in force 5 April 2022, in response to Belarus's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The amendment prohibits any person in Canada and any Canadian outside Canada from providing insurance, reinsurance or underwriting services for aviation and aerospace products owned, controlled, registered to, chartered by or operated by Belarus or a Belarusian person. A new section 3.6 separately establishes export prohibitions on goods and technologies listed on a Belarus Restricted Goods and Technologies List, incorporated by reference, aligning Canada's Belarus measures with its parallel Russia export-control regime. The same instrument added nine individuals (Belarusian oligarchs and defence officials) to the Schedule 1 asset-freeze list, outside this action's scope.

The Bureau of Industry and Security created Supplement No. 5 to 15 CFR Part 746, establishing a new licensing requirement for the export, reexport, or in-country transfer of luxury goods to Russia, Belarus, and to Russian or Belarusian oligarchs and malign actors anywhere in the world, effective 11 March 2022. Covered goods span over 570 HTS-6 line items across categories including spirits and tobacco (above de minimis thresholds), clothing and leather goods (>$1,000 per item), jewelry and precious gemstones, watches (>$100), vehicles (>$25,000), seafood/caviar (>$100), art and antiques, and recreational vessels. The rule targets both bulk commercial exports to Russia and Belarus and personal luxury procurement by designated oligarchs worldwide, with a policy of denial for all such licence applications.

BIS amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to add the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to Supplement No. 3 to Part 746 — the list of partner countries excluded from certain license requirements under § 746.8 that apply to items destined for Russia or Belarus. South Korea received a "Full" designation, meaning it is fully exempt from the Russia/Belarus Foreign Direct Product (FDP) rule license requirements provided it maintains substantially similar export controls on Russia and Belarus under its own laws. The rule was effective March 4, 2022, six days before its publication in the Federal Register (87 FR 13627).

On 6 March 2022, the South Korean government determined that Belarus had materially supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine and announced it would extend the export-control measures already applied to Russia to Belarus as well. Effective 7 March 2022, Korea designated two Belarusian entities (Belarus's Ministry of Defence and a second entity) to its "parties of concern" list, triggering a case-by-case licensing requirement for strategic items under Korea's multilateral export-control regime, and tightened review of non-strategic dual-use items destined for Belarus.

Effective 2 March 2022, the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) extended to Belarus the same sweeping EAR sanctions imposed on Russia following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The rule adds Commerce Control List (CCL)-based license requirements for Belarus with a policy of denial across virtually all categories, extends both the Russia Foreign Direct Product (FDP) rule and the Russia Military End User (MEU) FDP rule to cover Belarus and Belarusian military end users, and aligns Belarus with Russia's license review policy. The action was triggered by Belarus's active enablement of the Russian military operation from its territory.

BIS published an interim final rule on October 21, 2021 establishing new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs 4A005, 4D004, 4E001.c, and 5A001.j) for intrusion software systems, command-and-control platforms, and IP network surveillance tools, implementing the Wassenaar Arrangement 2017 cybersecurity decisions into the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The rule simultaneously created License Exception ACE (Authorized Cybersecurity Exports), codified at § 740.22, to authorize exports to most destinations while imposing licence requirements — or outright prohibitions — for sales to Country Groups E:1/E:2 governments and certain D-group government end-users. Carve-outs for vulnerability disclosure and cyber-incident-response activities were included to protect legitimate security research. The effective date was subsequently delayed from January 19, 2022 to March 7, 2022 by a separate interim rule (FR 2022-00448), and the rule was finalized with revisions on May 26, 2022 (FR 2022-11282).