BIS Final Rule Amends Export Administration Regs to Reflect Albania and Croatia's Membership in NATO

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule, effective December 23, 2009, which amends certain requirements in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that apply to Albania and Croatia due to their accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on April 1, 2009.

Commerce Country Chart Changes for Albania and Croatia

This rule amends the Commerce Country Chart (Supplement No. 1 to 15 CFR Part 738) by revising certain license requirements that apply to Albania and Croatia to be consistent with those that apply to other members of NATO.

Certain CC, NS, and RS license requirements removed. BIS' final rule removes certain crime control (CC), national security (NS) and regional stability (RS) license requirements for Albania and Croatia.

As a result of the changes made by this rule, Albania and Croatia are no longer designated as RS Column 2 destinations on the Commerce Country Chart and Croatia is no longer designated as an NS Column 2 destination.

Continuing license requirements. BIS states that a license continues to be required for:

exports and reexports to Albania or Croatia of items on the Commerce Control List (CCL) (Supplement No. 1 to 15 CFR Part 774) that are controlled for national security or regional stability reasons and are identified as requiring a license to destinations indicated under NS Column 1 (also NS Column 2, for Albania) or RS Column 1, respectively, on the Commerce Country Chart.

exports and reexports to Albania or Croatia of restraint devices, discharge type arms, and related technology that are controlled for crime control reasons under Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) 0A982, 0A985, and 0E982, respectively, on the CCL.

exports and reexports to Albania or Croatia of specially designed implements of torture that are controlled under ECCN 0A983.

BIS' final rule does not affect license requirements that apply to Albania or Croatia based on other reasons for control identified in the EAR, such as chemical/biological (CB), missile technology (MT), nuclear proliferation (NP), and encryption items (EI).

Commerce Control List-Related Changes for Albania and Croatia

BIS' final rule also makes changes related to the Commerce Control List for Albania and Croatia, including:

NS license requirements. BIS' rule amends the national security (NS) license requirement provisions in 15 CFR 742.4(a) by adding Croatia to the list of countries that are not subject to the NS Column 2 license requirements indicated in various ECCNs.

In addition, this rule adds Albania and Croatia to the list of countries identified in 15 CFR 742.4(a) that are not subject to the NS Column 2 license requirements that apply to certain ECCN 6A003.b.4.b cameras described therein.

Although this rule does not remove all of the NS Column 2 license requirements for Albania, as it does for Croatia, the rule does make Albania eligible for the exemption that applies to certain ECCN 6A003.b.4.b cameras described in 15 CFR 742.4(a). (This policy is consistent with the treatment that is provided for exports of such cameras to Cyprus, Malta, and South Africa, which also are subject to most NS Column 2 license requirements.)

RS license requirements. BIS' final rule adds Albania and Croatia to the list of countries identified in 15 CFR 742.6(a)(4)(ii) as not subject to the RS Column 2 license requirements that apply to certain ECCN 6A003.b.4.b cameras described therein. This rule also amends the RS Column 1 license requirements described in 15 CFR 742.6(a) by adding Albania and Croatia to the list of countries to which certain exports or reexports of cameras controlled under ECCN 6A003.b.4.b, as described in 15 CFR 742.6(a)(2)(ii) or (a)(2)(iv), may be authorized in accordance with the requirements of 15 CFR 742.6(a)(2)(iii) or (a)(2)(v), respectively.

In addition, this rule adds Albania and Croatia to the list of countries in 15 CFR 742.6(a)(3) whose governments are authorized to reexport without a license ''military commodities'' controlled under ECCN 0A919 as part of a military deployment.

This rule also amends 15 CFR 743.3(b) by adding Albania and Croatia to the list of countries that are subject to the reporting requirements described in this section, which apply to exports of ECCN 6A003.b.4.b thermal imaging cameras that have been authorized under the EAR without a validated license.

(Most of the amendments to 15 CFR 740.16(b)(3), 742.4(a), 742.6(a), and 743.3(b) that are described above involve provisions of the EAR that were affected by a May 22, 2009 BIS final rule which revised certain license requirements and license exception eligibility requirements for thermal imaging cameras controlled by ECCN 6A003.b.4.b on the CCL. This final rule does not affect the scope of these requirements, except insofar as they apply to exports of such cameras to Albania and Croatia. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/22/09 news, 09052225, for BP summary of BIS final rule.)

Additional Changes for Albania and/or Croatia

In addition to the national security and regional stability changes described above, this rule:

General Prohibition Eight - amends 15 CFR 736.2(b)(8)(ii) (i.e., General Prohibition Eight) to remove ''Albania'' from the list of countries that are subject to the prohibition against certain in transit shipments. This prohibition applies to intransit shipments through specified countries of items that generally would require a license for export or reexport to such countries and that are not authorized under either a license or a license exception.

Country Groups - amends Supplement No. 1 to 15 CFR Part 740 (titled "Country Groups") by moving Albania from Country Group D to Country Group B, consistent with the treatment provided to other members of NATO. Croatia has already been designated in the EAR as a Country Group B country. (Whether or not a country has been designated by the EAR as a Country Group B country can affect its eligibility status with respect to certain license exceptions described in 15 CFR Part 740 (e.g., License Exceptions LVS, GBS, and TSR).)

License Exception APR - amends the License Exception APR (Additional Permissive Reexports) provisions in 15 CFR 740.16(b)(3) to add Albania and Croatia to the list of eligible destinations for certain thermal imaging cameras controlled under ECCN 6A003.b.4.b.

Definition of NATO - amends 15 CFR Section 772.1 to update the definition of "NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)" by adding Albania and Croatia.

- comments may be submitted on a continuing basis

BIS contact - John Varesi (202) 482-1114

BIS final rule (D/N 0907241162-91276-01, FR Pub 12/23/09) available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-30484.pdf.