The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule that, effective April 8, expands license requirements for exports to Russia and Belarus under the Export Administration Regulations to all items on the Commerce Control List. BIS states that this rule expands U.S. scrutiny of transactions to almost any sensitive dual-use technology, software, or commodities that could be used to support Russia’s war effort against Ukraine.
Since February 2022 BIS has issued several rules that subject both Russia and Belarus to restrictions under the EAR. Among these were a new license requirement for exports to these countries of items subject to the EAR and classified under any ECCN in categories 3 through 9 of the CCL.
BIS has now expanded this license requirement to also include items classified under any ECCN in categories 0 through 2 of the CCL, which include materials and equipment relevant to nuclear, chemical, and materials processing. BIS notes that while the vast majority of items in these categories already required a license for Russia and Belarus (or were subject to the licensing authorities of other agencies), this rule imposes new license requirements for items including certain composite materials, medical products containing certain toxins or genetically modified organisms, hydraulic fluids, pumps, valves, and lower-level machine tools.
Additionally, consistent with this expanded requirement, BIS has revised the foreign direct product rules relating to both Russia and Belarus and military end-users in those countries to apply to all items on the CCL. As a result, foreign-produced items derived from ECCNs in categories 0 through 9 of the CCL are now subject to the EAR under these FDP rules as well as to the associated license requirement.
BIS states that with limited exceptions it will review export license applications involving all CCL items under a policy of denial.
Finally, this rule excludes aircraft registered in, owned or controlled by, or under charter or lease by Belarus or a national of Belarus from using license exception AVS (aircraft, vessels, and spacecraft).
For more information on restrictions on exports to Russia and Belarus, please contact Kristine Pirnia at (202) 730-4964 or via email.
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