BIS Issues Final Rule Implementing Numerous Wassenaar Changes (Part V - Revisions to CCL Category 3)

The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective November 5, 2007¹, which revises the Export Administration Regulations to implement changes to the (1) Wassenaar Arrangement's List of Dual Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar List), and (2) Statements of Understanding maintained and agreed to by governments participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement, or WA), as agreed upon in the December 2006 Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary Meeting.

This is Part V of a multipart series of summaries of this final rule, and focuses on the Commerce Control List (CCL) revisions affecting Category 3. See footnote for savings clause. See future issues of ITT for additional summaries.

CCL Revisions to Category 3 - Electronics

The BIS final rule makes the following changes to Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) in CCL Category 3:

ECCN 3A001 (Electronic components) is amended by:

a. Adding 3A001.b.9 to the License Exception LVS eligibility paragraph for $3,000, and adding 3A001.b.9 and 3A001.g to the License Exception GBS eligibility paragraph;

b. Correcting 3A001.a.5.a.1 by adding the word "with" to be consistent with the Wassenaar Dual-Use List (A resolution of 8 bit or more, but less than 10 bit, with an output rate greater than 500 million words per second);

c. Revising the output rate for analog-to-digital converter integrated circuits in 3A001.a.5.a.3 from 'greater than 50 million words per second' to "greater than 105 million words per second";

d. Revising the output rate for analog-to-digital converter integrated circuits in 3A001.a.5.a.4 from 'greater than 5 million words per second' to 'greater than 10 million words per second';

e. Revising the output rate for analog-to-digital converter integrated circuits in 3A001.a.5.a.5 from 'greater than 1 million words per second' to 'greater than 2.5 million words per second';

Rationale: These output rates are updated to keep pace with advances in analog-to-digital converter technology and growing commercial markets.

Note: For analog-to-digital converter integrated circuits no longer controlled under ECCN 3A001.a.5.a and related technology controlled under ECCN 3E001, there remains a license requirement under ECCNs 3A991.c and 3E991 respectively, as well as a software control under ECCN 3D991 for exports and reexports to designated terrorism supporting countries, as set forth in 15 CFR Parts 742 and 746 and as indicated in AT Column 1 of the Commerce Country Chart.

f. 3A001.b.9 is amended by adding microwave power modules (MPM), consisting of, at least, a traveling wave tube, a microwave monolithic integrated circuit and an integrated electronic power conditioner having specified parameters;

Rationale: MPMs are added to 3A001.b.9 because they are used as an efficient, compact building block in electronic warfare, radar and communication systems. The military criticality of the MPM results from the operating frequency, power (peak and/or average), instantaneous bandwidth, and the speed at which the MPM turns-on and packaging attributes. The combination of these capabilities results in a large improvement in power density (power per unit volume) over comparable solid state power amplifiers, resulting in a wide range of military applications. These include synthetic aperture radar, wideband data links, satellite communications, towed decoys and electronic warfare. Commercial applications of MPMs include satellite communications, wireless communications, high power RF sources for laboratory use, and rapid prototyping of microwave amplifiers for various applications.

g. 3A001.e.1 is amended by replacing the term "batteries" with the term "cells";

h. 3A001.e.1.a and 3A001.e.1.b are amended by removing the phrase "and batteries"; replacing the term "rechargeable cells" with the term "secondary cells"; and changing the energy density parameter to "550 Wh/kg at 293K (20C)";

i. The technical note for 3A001.e.1 is replaced with 4 new technical notes that describe "energy density," "cell," "primary cell," and "secondary cell," as well as a note that explains that "3A001.e. does not control batteries, including single cell batteries;" and

j. 3A001.g is added to control solid-state pulsed power switching thyristor devices and thyristor modules.

ECCN 3A002 (General purpose electronic equipment) is amended by:

a. Revising the eligibility paragraphs for License Exceptions GBS and CIV to remove 3A002.d, because all signal generators that were eligible for these license exceptions are no longer controlled under ECCN 3A002, but are now controlled under ECCN 3A992.a;

b. Removing a comma between "Frequency synthesizer" and "electronic assemblies" in 3A002.b to harmonize with the Wassenaar Dual-Use List;

c. Adding a note after 3A002.b stating "The control status of signal analyzers, signal generators, network analyzers, and microwave test receivers as stand-alone instruments is determined by 3A002.c., 3A002.d., 3A002.e., and 3A002.f., respectively.";

d. Revising 3A002.d (Frequency synthesized signal generators) by replacing the term "master frequency" with "master reference oscillator";

e. Revising 3A002.d.3 ("frequency switching time") by modifying the text and adding new subparagraphs 3A002.d.3.a through 3A002.d.3.e that specify various frequency switching time parameters;

f. Redesignating Note 1 (definition of 'pulse duration') as Note 2 and adding a new Note 1 following 3A002.d.4 to clarify the term 'frequency synthesized signal generators'; and

g. Redesignating Technical Note 1 as Technical Note 2, and adding a new Technical Note 1 to explain that arbitrary waveform and function generators are normally specified by sample rate.

ECCN 3A991 (Electronic devices and components not controlled by 3A001) is amended by:

a. Revising 3A991.a.1 from "A composite theoretical performance (CTP) of 6,500 million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) or more and an arithmetic logic unit with an access width of 32 bit or more" to read "A performance speed of 5 GFLOPS or more and an arithmetic logic unit with an access width of 32 bit or more" to harmonize with revisions to ECCN 3E002; and

b. Revising 3A991.j (batteries/cells) to harmonize with revisions to 3A001.e.1.

ECCN 3B001 (Equipment for the manufacturing of semiconductor devices or materials) is amended by:

a. Correcting the phrase "3B001.a.2 and a.3, or .f" to read "3B001.a.2, a.3, or .f" in the License Exception GBS eligibility paragraph in the License Exception section;

b. Redesignating 3B001.f.2 as 3B001.f.3;

c. Adding a new paragraph 3B001.f.2 to control imprint lithography equipment capable of producing features of 180 nm or less; and

d. Adding a new paragraph 3B001.i to control lithograph templates designed for integrated circuits controlled by 3A001.

Rationale: Imprint lithographic technology was added to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductor's (ITRS') 2003 edition. Imprint lithographic systems are currently being manufactured in the U.S., Austria, Sweden, and Germany, and have demonstrated the capability of producing features as small as 10nm. While these systems do not yet have the throughput and overlay accuracy necessary for use in major silicon integrated circuit production facilities, the technology is maturing, and is expected to be widely used at the 45nm technology node. They are currently being used in compound semiconductor manufacturing, and compound semiconductor devices have important military applications.

ECCN 3B991 (Equipment not controlled by 3B001 for the manufacture of electronic components and materials) is amended by adding ECCN 3C005 to the list of ECCNs referenced in 3B991.b.1.b in order to harmonize with the addition of this new ECCN.

ECCN 3C002 (Resist materials) is amended by revising the heading to conform to the Wassenaar Dual-Use List and the wavelength for positive resists designed for semiconductor lithography from 'below 350 nm' to 'below 245 nm' in order to match the wavelength threshold in ECCN 3B001.a (lithography equipment), which was changed in 2004.

ECCN 3C005 (Silicone carbide wafers) is added to the CCL to control silicon carbide (SiC) wafers having a resistivity of more than 10,000 ohm-cm, because it is emerging as the material of choice for high temperature devices, such as power switches, which are used in both military (e.g., military ships, vehicles, radar, communications, electromagnetic warfare and weapons systems) and commercial applications (e.g., communication systems, electric power, utilities industry, civil radar systems, cell phone base stations, and high definition television transmitters).

Note: ECCN 3C005 is controlled for NS:2 and AT:1 reasons. In addition, ECCN 3E001 controls for NS:1 and AT:1 reasons related technology for the development or production of silicon carbide (SiC) wafers classified as ECCN 3C005, and ECCN 3B991.b.1.b controls for AT:1 reasons related equipment specially designed for purifying or processing III/V and II/VI semiconductor materials controlled by ECCN 3C005.

ECCN 3C992 (positive resists) is amended by revising the heading to adjust the wavelength from 'between 370 and 350 nm' to 'between 370 and 245 nm' to harmonize with the revision to 3C002.

ECCN 3E001 is amended by:

a. Revising the NS control text in the License Requirements section to add the new ECCN 3C005;

b. Revising the Related Controls paragraph in the List of Items Controlled section to remove outdated note 2 and redesignate note 3 as note 2, because the updated version of this note is already reflected in the Items paragraph of the List of Items Controlled section.

c. Redesignating Note 1 as Note 2 and Note 2 as Note 1 in the Items paragraph; and

d. Revising the citation in the technical note from 'Note b' to 'Note 2' in the Items paragraph.

ECCN 3E002 is amended by:

a. Revising the heading to remove references to 'composite theoretical performance (CTP)' and 'million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS)';

b. Revising License Exception CIV eligibility text from "Composite Theoretical Performance (CTP) less than or equal to 40,000 MTOPS (regardless of word length or access width)" to read "vector processor unit with operand length of 64-bit or less, 64-bit floating operations not exceeding 32 GFLOPS, or 16-bit or more floating-point operations not exceeding 32 GMACS" to conform to the revisions in 3A001 regarding microprocessors;

Note: The new parameter for measuring vector processor units is GMACS, which equals billions of 16-bit fixed-point multiply-accumulate operations per second.

c. Adding subparagraphs 3E002.a, 3E002.b, and 3E002.c to specify new parameters for microprocessor technology controls related to the vector processor unit, floating-point vectors, and fixed-point multiply-accumulate results, including adding a technical note to describe "vector processing unit."

Rationale: These changes are made to remove the remaining references to "Composite Theoretical Performance (CTP)" and "Millions of Theoretical Operations Per Second (MTOPS)" in the EAR, which is consistent with agreements made by the Wassenaar Arrangement with regard to microprocessors. Information on How to Calculate "Composite Theoretical Performance" ("CTP") is removed from the end of Category 3, because CTP is no longer a parameter used to control any entry in the CCL.

¹See Part I of BP's series of summaries for details on the final rule's "savings clause" for exports on dock for loading, on lighter, or laden aboard an exporting carrier, or en route aboard a carrier to a port of export.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 11/08/07, 11/09/07, 11/13/07, and 11/14/07 news, 07110825, 07110915, 07111330, and 07111420, for Parts I-IV.)

(Comments regarding the collections of information associated with this rule, including suggestions for reducing the burden, should be sent to OMB Desk Officer, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503. Attention: David Rostker; and to the Office of Administration, Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce, 14th St. and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Room 6883, Washington, DC 20230.)

BIS final rule (D/N 070105004-7050-01, FR Pub 11/05/07) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-21247.pdf