International Law Advisory - Revision of License Requirement and Licensing Policy, and Increased Availability of License Exceptions for Certain NATO Member States

On November 7, 2005, the Bureau of Industry and Security will publish in the Federal Register a notice that amends certain provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) as they apply to Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.  These changes are being made as to these recent NATO members in order to provide consistent treatment to all NATO member states with respect to national security-based license requirements, national security licensing policy, availability of certain License Exceptions, and certain in-transit transactions.
 The following summarizes the amendments made in this final rule:

• Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been removed from General Prohibition 8 because items no longer require a license for transit through these countries.
  
• Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are exempted from the “NS Column 2” license requirement in § 742.4(a).
  
• Section 740.2 of the EAR is amended such that Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are no longer restricted in the use of license exceptions for the export and reexport of items controlled for crime control reasons.
  
• The amendments to Supplement No. 1 to Part 740 now move Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania from Country Group D:1 to Country Group B.  Thus, these countries are now eligible destinations for exports and reexports that are authorized by license exceptions LVS, GBS, and TSR and the previous limitations on the use of TMP, RPL, GFT, BAG, and AVS no longer apply to these countries.  Moreover, these countries now fall under the policy articulated in Section 742.4(b)(1) of the EAR, generally approving the export and reexport of national security controlled items to these destinations.

We will continue to keep you apprised of any further amendments to the EAR. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ed Krauland at 202.429.8083.