BIS Issues Final Rule Implementing Numerous Wassenaar Changes (Part VIII - Revisions to CCL Category 7)

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 VIII of a multipart series of summaries of this final rule, and focuses on the Commerce Control List (CCL) revisions affecting Category 7. See footnote for savings clause. See future issues of ITT for additional summaries.

CCL Revisions to Category 7 - Navigation and Avionics

The BIS final rule makes the following changes to Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) in CCL Category 7:

ECCN 7A001 (Accelerometers) is amended by:

a. Revising the heading from "Linear accelerometers designed for use in inertial navigation or guidance systems and having any of the following characteristics (see List of Items Controlled), and specially designed components therefor" to read "Accelerometers as follows (see List of Items Controlled), and specially designed components therefor" in order to change the scope of control from including end-use and type to a strictly technical control, as set forth in the List of Items Controlled section;

b. Revising the MT controls in the License Requirements section from "MT applies to entire entry'' to "MT applies to commodities that meet or exceed the parameters of 7A101'' to clarify items controlled for MT reasons based on the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex;

c. Differentiating between linear accelerometers designed to operate at high g values and linear accelerometers designed to operate at low g levels; and

d. Moving the controls for angular and rotational accelerometers from the gyro controls in 7A002 to the accelerometer controls in 7A001.

Rationale: With the constant development of accelerometers, there are now products on the market which can be used for inertial navigation and guidance, but that were not necessarily designed for that purpose. Therefore, these changes are being made to 7A001 to control these new products.

ECCN 7A002 (Gyros or angular rate sensors) is amended by:

a. Revising text in the heading from 'and angular or rotational accelerometers' to read 'or angular rate sensors';

Rationale: The heading is clarified to delete "angular or rotational accelerometers'' because angular accelerometers do not measure angular rate. (These devices are more appropriately addressed in ECCN 7A001.) Also, the term angular rate sensor is added. With the emergence of new gyro technology, the term "angular rate sensor'' is interchangeable with "gyro."

b. Revising the Missile Technology (MT) reason for control in the License Requirements section to read "MT applies to 7A002 items that meet or exceed the parameters of 7A102'' because some items identified in 7A002.a and 7A002.b are national security controlled items and not MT controlled items;

c. Adding a License Requirement Note to the License Requirements section to add the Missile Technology Control Regime's definition for 'stability', which should only be used for the purposes of MT controls. (The Wassenaar Arrangement definition for 'stability' is found in Part 772);

d. Revising the drift rate in from 'less (better) than 0.1 degree per hour when specified to function at acceleration levels below 12 g' to read 'less (better) than 0.5 degree per hour when specified to function at linear acceleration levels up to and including 100.g' combining paragraphs 7A002.a, 7A002.a.1 and 7A002.a.2;

e. Adding double quotes around the term "angle random walk'' in 7A002.b;

f. Removing the technical note defining "angle random walk,'' as the definition was moved to Part 772;

g. Redesignating paragraph 7A002.c as paragraph 7A002.d; and

h. Adding a new paragraph 7A002.c to incorporate three critical parameters for controlling gyros.

Rationale: With new gyro technology, e.g. Fiber Optic Gyros (FOG) and MicroElectroMechanical System (MEMS) gyros, the current 7A002.a. and b. language does not adequately control gyros required for very short-term applications and having high rate range, such as those used in tactical missiles and smart munitions. The former 7A002.c addressed gyros with a high linear acceleration capability. The new paragraph 7A002.c includes three critical parameters: drift rate stability, input rate range and angle random walk (ARW). To be controlled, the gyro must meet the drift rate stability and either the input rate range or ARW parameter. The input rate range of 500 degrees per second and the ARW parameter of 0.2 degrees per square root hour were selected because they are consistent with tactical missile and howitzer requirements. The 40 degrees per hour drift rate stability was selected because it would control gyros used for guidance in very short mission tactical weapons and smart munitions, but would avoid the control of gyros used in automobiles. This revision will control the most critical gyros, while allowing wide commercial-use of these new gyro technologies.

ECCN 7A003 (Inertial systems) is amended by:

a. Adding 7A003.d to control Inertial measurement equipment, including Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and Inertial Reference Systems (IRS), which was added to clarify 7A003.c; and

b. Replacing a reference in Note 2 that stated "civil authorities of a country in Country Group A:1'' with "civil authorities of a Wassenaar Arrangement Participating State, see Supplement No. 1 to Part 743 for a list of these countries.''

ECCN 7A008 is added to control underwater sonar navigation systems for NS:2 and AT:1 reasons, because underwater navigation systems pose significant military and terrorism concerns because of their potential use for coastal reconnaissance and infiltration.

ECCN 7A101 is amended by revising the Heading and the Items paragraph in the List of Items Controlled section to add a new paragraph 7A101.b for "continuous output accelerometers of any type, specified to function at acceleration levels greater than 100 g, and specially designed components therefor'' and to expand the scope of the heading to include this new paragraph.

Rationale: These accelerometers were previously controlled under ECCN 7A001, but are no longer controlled under this ECCN because of the Wassenaar Arrangement's agreement to add the words "designed for use in inertial navigation or guidance systems.'' This revision was necessary in order to maintain the MT controls on these accelerometers as specified by 9.A.5 of the MTCR Annex.

ECCN 7B003 is amended by revising the Related Controls paragraph in the List of Items Controlled section to clarify that 7B003 controls include fiber optic gyro coil winding machines.

ECCN 7D003 is amended by:

a. Adding software controls for ECCN 7A008 in 7D003.a and .b;

b. Replacing the term 'inertial data' with 'heading data' in 7D003.b; and

c. Revising 7D003.b.1 by adding 'or sonar'.

Rationale: The revisions to 7D003.a address software that improves navigation performance of equipment controlled by ECCN 7A008. The revisions to 7D003.b address source code for a hybrid underwater navigation system that combines a heading source (inertial or non-inertial, such as a fluxgate compass) with Doppler sonar to provide positioning data to the level specified in ECCN 7A008.

ECCNs 7D001, 7E001, and 7E002 are amended to revise the License Requirement section to include ECCN 7A008 in the NS:1 control and to exclude ECCN 7A008 from the MT:1 control.

Rationale: This revision is necessary in order to add NS:1 controls for the related technology and software for the new ECCN 7A008, but to exclude it from MT:1 controls, as equipment controlled by ECCN 7A008 does not appear on the MTCR Annex.

ECCN 7E004 is amended by adding 7E004.a.7 to control development and production technology for Data Based Referenced Navigation (DBRN) systems designed to navigate underwater using sonar or gravity databases that provide a positioning accuracy equal to or less (better) than 0.4 nautical miles.

Rationale: The addition of ECCN 7A008 and 7E004.a.7 addresses two new commercial capabilities under the title of Underwater Sonar Navigation Systems: (1) underwater sonar navigation systems and (2) technology for underwater Data Based Referenced Navigation (DBRN) (e.g. sonar imaging). These capabilities pose significant military and terrorism concerns because of their potential use for coastal reconnaissance and infiltration. These systems are also used for commercial surveying applications. The Munitions List ML11 controls navigation and guidance systems specially designed for military use, but ML11 does not control underwater sonar navigation systems designed for commercial use.

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, 11/14/07, 11/15/07, 11/19/07, and 11/20/07 news, 07110825, 07110915, 07111330, 07111420, 07111535, 07111935, and 07112030, for Parts I-VII, respectively.)

(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