[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 245 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65666-65667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-31322]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Export Administration
15 CFR Parts 738 and 742
[Docket No. 011019257-1257-01]
RIN 0694-AC48
Removal of Licensing Exemption for Exports and Reexports of
Missile Technology-Controlled Items Destined to Canada
AGENCY: Bureau of Export Administration, Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) is reviewing the
existing license exemption contained within the Export Administration
Regulations (EAR) for the export of missile technology (MT)-controlled
items to Canada, because of the recommendations contained in the
Government Accounting Office Report entitled: ``Export Controls:
Regulatory
[[Page 65667]]
Change Needed to Comply with Missile Technology Licensing
Requirements'' (GA-01-530). BXA is seeking comments on how removing the
existing licensing exemption for MT-controlled exports to Canada would
affect industry and more specifically the exporting community.
DATES: Comments must be received by February 19, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Written comments (three copies) should be sent to Sharron
Cook, Regulatory Policy Division, Office of Exporter Services, Bureau
of Export Administration, Department of Commerce, 14th and Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW, PO Box 273, Room 2705, Washington, DC 20230; E-Mailed to:
[email protected]; or faxed to 202-482-3355.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Goldman, Director, Office of
Nonproliferation Controls and Treaty Compliance, Bureau of Export
Administration, Telephone: (202) 482-4188. Copies of the referenced GAO
Report are available at the GAO website: http://www.gao.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Government Accounting Office (GAO) Report entitled: ``Export
Controls: Regulatory Change Needed to Comply with Missile Technology
Licensing Requirements'' (GA-01-530), recommended that the Department
of Commerce amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to
require a license for the export of dual-use items controlled pursuant
to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) to Canada. The GAO
based its recommendation on a provision in the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 1991, which amended the
Export Administration Act (EAA) of 1979 to require a license for any
export of dual-use Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) controlled
goods or technology to any country. In 1991, the Department of Commerce
implemented the NDAA requirements in EAR by controlling MTCR Annex
items on the Commerce Control List (CCL) under a new designated reason
for control, ``missile technology (MT)'' and generally requiring a
license for the export or reexport of these items and technologies.
Many of these items were already on the CCL and controlled under
foreign policy or national security reasons. However, the Department of
Commerce did not revise the EAR's existing license exemption for
exports to Canada to require licenses for MT-controlled items to
Canada. The license exemption for Canada existed in the EAR many years
prior to the enactment of the MT provisions of the EAA. Since the Hyde
Park Declaration of 1941, the United States has authorized nearly all
dual-use goods intended for consumption in Canada to be exported
without a license, although any reexport of U.S.-origin items
controlled for MT concerns from Canada would require a license from the
U.S. Government. The Department of Commerce is interested in evaluating
the impact on U.S. exporters of removing the existing licensing
exemption for MT-controlled exports to Canada.
The current missile technology (MT) controls maintained by the
Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) are set forth in the Export
Administration Regulations (EAR), parts 742 (CCL Based Controls) and
744 (End-User and End-Use Based Controls). A regulatory implementation
would entail adding an ``X'' in the row for Canada under the column
from ``MT 1'' in the ``Missile Tech'' column of Supplement No. 1 to
part 738, Commerce Country Chart. In addition, section 742.5 of the EAR
would be revised to remove the phrase ``except Canada'' in the third
sentence of paragraph (a)(1).
To ensure maximum public participation in the review process,
comments are solicited for the next 60 days on the removal of the
existing licensing exemption for the export of MT-controlled goods and
technologies to Canada. BXA is particularly interested in the
experience of individual exporters with the licensing exemption for MT-
controlled exports to Canada, with emphasis on economic impact and
specific business circumstances. BXA is also interested in industry
information relating to the following:
1. Information on the effect of a licensing requirement for the
export of MT-controlled items (commodities, software, and technology)
to Canada on sales of U.S. products and market-share.
2. Information on joint-ventures or U.S. industry owned facilities
in Canada that would be affected by the removal of a licensing
exemption for the export of MT-controlled items to Canada.
3. Information on controls maintained by U.S. trade partners (i.e.,
to what extent do other MTCR Partners have similar exemptions for the
export of MT-controlled goods and technology to other countries)?
4. Additional suggestions for revisions to the Canadian licensing
exemption policy.
5. Data or other information as to the effect of a Canadian
licensing requirement on overall trade, either for individual firms or
for individual industrial sectors.
Parties submitting comments are asked to be as specific as
possible. Accordingly, the Department encourages interested persons who
wish to comment to do it at the earliest possible time.
The period for submission of comments will close February 19, 2002.
The Department will consider all comments received before the close of
the comment period in developing final regulations. Comments received
after the end of the comment period will be considered if possible, but
their consideration cannot be assured. The Department will not accept
public comments accompanied by a request that a part or all of the
material be treated confidentially because of its business proprietary
nature or for any other reason. The Department will return such
comments and materials to the persons submitting the comments and will
not consider them in the development of final regulations. All public
comments on these regulations will be a matter of public record and
will be available for public inspection and copying. The Department
requires comments be submitted in written form, which will be a matter
of public record and will be available for public review and copying.
The public record concerning these comments will be maintained in
the Bureau of Export Administration, Office of Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Room 6883, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20230; (202) 482-0637. This component does not maintain
a separate public inspection facility. Requesters should first view
BXA's FOIA website (which can be reached through http://www.bxa.doc.gov/foia). If the records sought cannot be located at this
site, or if the requester does not have access to a computer, please
call the phone number above for assistance.
List of Subjects in 15 CFR Parts 738 and 742
Exports, Foreign trade.
Dated: December 14, 2001.
James J. Jochum,
Assistant Secretary for Export Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-31322 Filed 12-19-01; 8:45 am]
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