State Dept. Regulatory Agenda Includes New Mention of Changes to USML Category XVI

The Department of State published its 2019 fall agenda, including a new mention of an amendment to Category XVI of the U.S. Munitions List for Nuclear Weapons Related Articles. The change will “better harmonize” the State Department’s rules with the Department of Energy’s part 810 regulations. The rule will also ensure that items that provide the U.S. with “critical military or intelligence advantages” are listed on the USML and “remain subject to … export controls at all times.” The State Department plans to issue the rule in December.

The State Department continues to mention a rule that would update the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The changes would designate Tunisia as a major non-North American Treaty Organization ally, reorganize several paragraphs to “clarify the intent” of the ITAR, update defense trade policies regarding Sri Lanka and update trade policies for Eritrea, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire to reflect resolutions made by the United Nations Security Council. The changes would also update U.S. defense trade policy toward Vietnam to “reflect a determination” made by the Secretary of State. The agency aims to issue the rule in December.

The agenda continues to mention an upcoming proposed rule to amend the ITAR to include definitions for “activities that are not exports, re-exports, or retransfers” (see 1905240025). The State Department aims to publish the rule in September 2020.

The agency also continued to mention a proposed rule aimed to solicit comments for ITAR controls “on launch vehicles, ballistic missiles and other items” under Category IV of the USML and for “spacecraft and related items” under Category XV (see 1904180014). The agency aims to issue the proposed rule in March 2020.

Agenda Highlights

Highlights of State's trade-related rulemakings that are at the proposed, final or completed stages are below. New items are marked with an asterisk (*).