In response to the Venezuelan military’s violent repression of the Venezuelan people, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) is issuing a final rule to impose license requirements on the export, reexport, or transfer (in-country) of certain items to or within Venezuela when intended for a “military end use” or “military end user.” The final rule amends Section 744.21 of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to add a licensing requirement for Venezuela that is similar to pre-existing military end use/end user licensing requirements for Russia and the People’s Republic of China. The licensing requirement applies to (i) any items subject to the EAR listed in Supplement No. 2 to Part 744 of the EAR, as well as (ii) any items classified under 9×515 or the “600 series” of the U.S. Commerce Control List. This change complements an existing U.S. arms embargo against Venezuela, which already applies to items subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulation and to most of the “600 series” items on the U.S. Commerce Control List. Venezuela is not otherwise subject to specific U.S. export controls, other than the regular country-based controls that apply under the EAR based on an item’s ECCN and the corresponding reasons for control on the Commerce Country Chart.
