State Dept. to Renew Relaxed ITAR Restrictions on Cyprus

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls plans to again extend a rule that temporarily suspended restrictions on certain defense exports to Cyprus, the agency said last week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that Cyprus has “met the necessary conditions” to continue to receive U.S. defense exports through FY 2023, the agency said, and the U.S. will continue to suspend its policy of denial for all exports to Cyprus of items on the U.S. Munition List. DDTC said it will soon publish a Federal Register notice to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to reflect the change.

DDTC first relaxed the trade restrictions, which must be assessed annually, in 2020 (see 2009020045). The agency last year renewed the measures (see 2109290013), which were scheduled to expire Sept. 30.