The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule that, effective Aug. 13, eases export controls on certain unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and related parts, components, accessories, attachments, technology, and software under the Export Administration Regulations. BIS states that this rule better aligns the EAR with the current UAV technology landscape by shifting focus away from widely-available commercial capabilities and tailoring controls to UAVs with capabilities that adversaries could use to pose a national security threat to the U.S.
Specific changes include the following.
- eliminating wind gust tolerance as a parameter for determining UAV controls under the EAR
- increasing the threshold for national security controls on certain UAVs from an endurance of 30 minutes to an endurance of three hours and removing national security controls on software and technology associated with UAVs with an endurance less than three hours
- maintaining military end-use and end-user controls on lower-endurance drones and associated software and technology
- clarifying Commerce Control List controls for certain UAVs specially designed for military use
- removing national security controls on certain specially-designed parts, components, accessories, and attachments for such UAVs as they do not provide any significant military or intelligence capabilities
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