Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement changes to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex agreed at Technical Experts Meetings in 2018, 2019, and 2021, revising six ECCNs (1C111, 2A101, 2B119, 6A107, 9A101, and 9E515). The rule simultaneously expands license exception eligibility for MT-controlled items — adding one new authorization and broadening four existing exceptions — for exports to allies and partners not in Country Groups D:4 or D:5. BIS estimates the changes will reduce MT-related license applications by approximately 400 per year, easing compliance burden on defence and aerospace exporters dealing with allied governments.

On 18 October 2023 the Governor in Council registered Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations (SOR/2023-220) under the Special Economic Measures Act, citing Iran's proliferation- sensitive nuclear activities and weapons-of-mass-destruction-related programme as a grave breach of international peace and security. The amendment prohibits Canadians and Canadian entities from exporting, selling or supplying to Iran dual-use goods and technology, conventional arms (battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships), Missile Technology Control Regime-listed equipment, and technical data related to ballistic missiles and nuclear-weapon delivery systems; it also bars importing arms and related material from Iran. The same instrument adds 156 entities and 18 individuals to Canada's Iran sanctions list (asset freeze / dealings prohibition).

BIS issued a correcting amendment to the EAR Entity List to add China Aviation Development Harbin Bearing Co., Ltd. — an AVIC subsidiary and specialist precision-bearing manufacturer — that was included in the preamble of the June 14, 2023 final rule (88 FR 38739) but inadvertently omitted from the regulatory text. The entity was designated for acquiring and attempting to acquire US-origin items in support of China's military modernization, including hypersonic weapons development, air-to-air missiles, and weapon lifecycle management using Western software. All EAR-subject items require a licence with a presumption of denial; retroactive effective date of June 16, 2023.

BIS published a final rule adding 43 entities under 50 entries to the EAR Entity List and removing one entity (Fiber Optic Solutions, Latvia), effective June 12, 2023. The additions span ten countries — China (31 entities), UAE (5), Pakistan (4), South Africa (3), UK (2), and one each in Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand — targeting four principal threat clusters: China's military modernization and hypersonic-weapons supply chain, an international network of flight-training academies (TFASA and affiliates) providing Western pilot training to Chinese military personnel, Pakistan-linked procurement for unsafeguarded ballistic-missile programs, and UAE/South Africa-based dual-use diversion networks. All listed entities require a BIS licence, with most subject to a presumption of denial.

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) added 76 Russian entities to the Entity List effective February 24, 2023, spanning three rationale categories: (1) biometric surveillance technology enabling Russian filtration operations in occupied Ukraine; (2) illicit acquisition of U.S.-origin controlled items; and (3) the Russian military-industrial complex encompassing missiles, aviation, shipbuilding, semiconductors, telecom, and defense electronics. All 76 entities are subject to a license requirement for all EAR-subject items with a presumption of denial; 66 entities receive footnote-3 designation as Russian military end-users, subjecting them to the Russia/Belarus Military End-User Foreign Direct Product Rule under §734.9(g). Four existing Entity List entries were simultaneously revised with additional aliases and tightened to a policy of denial. Notable designations include KAMAZ, the Skolkovo Foundation, Skoltech, Ilyushin Aviation Complex, and the State Missile Center Named After Akademika V.P. Makeyev.