The concurrent final rules on transferring items from U.S. Munitions List category XI to the Commerce Control List include revisions for satellite systems. The Commerce and State departments released the final rules on the transfer of dual-use items Monday (CD July 1 p12). Most of the rules are effective Dec. 30, the departments said Tuesday in Federal Register notices (http://1.usa.gov/1z5Fakc; http://1.usa.gov/1lwGfaz). Revisions include one made to control antennas that employ four or more elements, electronically steer angular beams and achieve a beam switching speed faster than 50 milliseconds. That came in response to commenters who indicated the previous rule was written in a way that would control items like antennas designed for transmitting radio communications via a commercially operated fixed or mobile satellite service system, which is already controlled by an export control classification number, the State Department notice said. The final rules were released as part of previously disclosed export control overhaul (CD May 13 p12).
The Commerce and State departments released concurrent final rules to transfer dual-use items from U.S. Munitions List category XI to the Commerce Control List as part of previously disclosed export control reform (CD May 13 p12). The rules are effective Dec. 30, aside from minor changes that take effect upon publication in the Federal Register, said notices from Commerce (http://1.usa.gov/1mBtEmA) and State (http://1.usa.gov/Txd9Rw) appearing in Tuesday’s Federal Register.
The Satellite Industry Association called publication of rules which transfer export controls, including on satellites, from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to the Commerce Control List a “truly comprehensive overhaul to the U.S. satellite export control system,” in an SIA news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/RMGEid). The final rules will be effective Nov. 10 (CD May 13 p12). The rules, which the State Department called interim, for USML Category XV will be effective June 27, State said in a Federal Register notice Tuesday (http://1.usa.gov/1ooReJC).
The Commerce and State departments are issuing concurrent interim final rules to transfer export controls on spacecraft, including satellites, from U.S. Munitions List (USML) Category XV (Spacecraft and Related Articles) to the Commerce Control List (CCL), said notices from each department slated to appear in Tuesday’s Federal Register. Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security and the State Department have been prioritizing revision to Category XV for months. The transfers are part of the administration’s export control revamp. Large portions of both rules will be effective Nov. 10, following a 180-day grace period to let industry adjust to the regulatory changes. The interim rules incorporate changes suggested through comments on the proposal published in the Federal Register May 24, 2013, and both agencies will accept comments until June 26. The Commerce rule (http://1.usa.gov/RAILVY) creates four new Export Control Classification Numbers in CCL Category 9. The controls on radiation-hardened and other microelectronic circuits will be removed from the USML June 26. International Traffic in Arms Regulations controls on software and technical data related to microelectronic circuits will also be removed then from the USML. The State final rule (http://1.usa.gov/RAILVY) will be effective Nov. 10, except for Section 121.1, which effective June 26 amends portions of Category IV (launch vehicles, guided missiles, ballistic missiles, rockets, torpedoes, bombs and mines) that deal with spacecraft-launch vehicle integration and launch failure analysis services. In Category XV, certain commercial communications and remote sensing satellites will be subject to CCL controls after the Nov. 10 effective date. State is also transferring USML items to the CCL by limiting its scope of control on ground control systems and training simulators specially designed for telemetry, tracking and control of spacecraft. State will keep USML control on certain GPS receiving equipment, which will be up for export control changes in amendments to USML Category XII (fire control, range finder, optical and guidance and control equipment).
As the Commerce and State departments move forward with their effort to finalize changes and new rules to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), satellite companies must be properly prepared to understand the enforcement, compliance and implementation aspects of the rules, a government official and compliance experts said Monday at a Washington Space Business Roundtable event. By the end of the year, the agencies plan to complete a final draft of the new rules, which mainly focus on moving satellite components and technology that aren’t crucial to military operations and national security from the munitions list to the less restrictive Commerce Control List (CCL), said Kevin Wolf, assistant secretary of commerce for export administration.
Satellite companies and manufacturers supported the Obama Administration’s draft proposals to update the satellite export control regime in comments to the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). The proposals address the transfer of satellite systems and their components from the U.S. munitions list (USML) to the Commerce Control List (CCL). Items controlled under the USML are critical to national security, while the CCL is less restrictive and includes items that are less critical. Comments were due this week and posted Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/1aevu9E). SES, Intelsat, Boeing and other companies approved of the proposals but asked for clarifications to export control classification numbers (ECCN) that identify items.
The Satellite Industry Association is pleased the Obama administration “has moved quickly to right-size the rules that govern exports of satellites and their parts and components, just a few months after Congress restored their authority to do so,” said SIA in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/11fGfay). “We view sensible and effective export controls as a vital tool to enhance our nation’s space industrial base and encourage the satellite sector’s ongoing leadership in innovation and investment,” said President Patricia Cooper. The State Department and Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security had released concurrent proposed rules on changes to the U.S. Munitions List and Commerce Control List for spacecraft and related items. That was the latest export control reform step. The proposed rules can be seen at http://1.usa.gov/10qOdc4 and http://1.usa.gov/11fSQKE.
The government continues to take steps to enhance partnerships in commercial space launches, said Maj. Justin Sutherland, a chief in the Air Force Space Operations Division. The government is taking the initial steps to implement the provisions on launch and space vehicles in the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was passed in January, he said Tuesday at a Federal Aviation Administration Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee meeting in Washington.
The State Department seeks comment on its proposal to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations by revising Category IV of the U.S. Munitions List (USML), which includes space launch vehicles, guided missiles and rockets. The revisions are aimed at describing more precisely the articles warranting control on the USML, the department said Thursday in a Federal Register notice (http://xrl.us/bodxd2). The proceeding is part of President Barack Obama’s export control reform effort, which includes moving some satellites and equipment from USML to the less-restrictive Commerce Control List (CD May 21 p3). Comments are due 45 days after the publication date, it said.
Congress could reauthorize the president’s authority to relax export rules on non-critical U.S. satellites this week. Lawmakers are widely expected to consider the final FY13 National Defense Authorization bill which contains a provision to authorize the administration to tailor export restrictions on less-sensitive satellites. The provision is based on recommendations from the Defense and State departments that suggested a transfer of some satellites and equipment from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List (CD April 19 p7). The language of the provision reflects bicameral legislation (S-3211, HR-3288) offered by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and outgoing Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif. Aerospace Industries Association President Marion Blakey commended the development in a news release Wednesday: “Ending this self-imposed burden on U.S. competitiveness in the global commercial satellite marketplace is critical to our national security and to ensuring the U.S. space industrial base stays second to none.”