The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued an interim final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations to ensure that U.S. companies can actively participate in the development of international standards without being unreasonably hindered by export controls and associated compliance concerns. Comments on this rule are due no later than Sept. 16.
BIS states that standards development underpins U.S. prosperity and fortifies U.S. leadership in critical and emerging technologies. The U.S. is currently prioritizing efforts for CET standards development in the areas of biotechnology; positioning, navigation, and timing services; communications and networking technologies; and quantum information technologies, among others.
Since 2019 BIS has made a number of revisions to the EAR that have affected U.S. participation and leadership in standards-related activities. Most recently, in September 2022 BIS issued an interim final rule authorizing the release of certain technology and software subject to the EAR to all entities on the Entity List without a license when that release occurs in a standards-related activity with the intent that the resulting standard will be published.
BIS states that it is now further amending the EAR to (1) revise the definition of standards-related activities to accurately reflect the U.S. model of public-private cooperation in standards to further global innovation and trade and (2) clarify the applicability of export controls to specific software and technology for standards-related activity to promote transparency and effectiveness in U.S. contributions to global standards.
Copyright © 2025 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.; WorldTrade Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.