On July 22, 2015 the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations, 15 C.F.R. Parts 730-774 (“EAR”), to implement the rescission of Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (BIS has also issued FAQs).  As discussed in our previous blog posts here and here, the U.S. Secretary of State rescinded the designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on May 29, 2015, as…

On June 3, 2015, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) and the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) published two proposed companion rules to revise and harmonize certain definitions in the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) as part of the U.S. Government’s ongoing export control reform efforts (the “Proposed Rules”) (see BIS’s proposed rule here and DDTC’s proposed rule here). …

After a series of delays, US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) recently announced the rollout of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (“C-TPAT”) program for exporters.  CBP will again accept C-TPAT applications from exporters this month.  A link to CBP’s exporter eligibility requirements and criteria are available here. 

On May 18, 2015, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued additional guidance on due diligence measures that US exporters should take to prevent unauthorized exports to Russia of items (i.e., goods, software, technology) subject to the Export Administration Regulations, 15 C.F.R. Part 730 et seq. (“EAR”).  This Russia-focused guidance supplements existing “Know Your Customer” guidance found in the EAR. In connection with the crisis in the Ukraine that began in…