The U.S. likely will face challenges trying to place export controls on RISC-V, an open-source semiconductor architecture that policymakers fear China may use to evade export restrictions and leapfrog their U.S. competitors, Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology said this week.

Annual encryption self-classification reports and semi-annual sales reports for certain encryption items are due to the Bureau of Industry and Security by Feb. 1, Thompson Hine said in a reminder to clients last week. The self-classification report covers less sensitive items under the BIS License Exception ENC, and must provide information on encryption commodities, software and components exported during the previous calendar year. For the upcoming semi-annual sales report deadline, BIS requires information on exports that occurred between July 1 and Dec. 31 of the previous year.

The State Department gathered an undisclosed “group of countries” last week to “strategize” on ways to curb the supply of parts to Iranian drones, a department official said Jan. 17.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is seeking public comments on an information collection involving notices of “material change” to a DDTC-registered company. Any company making or marketing items controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and registered with DDTC must notify the agency “in the event of a change in registration information,” or if the company is a party to an ITAR-related merger, acquisition or divestiture, DDTC said. The agency said it needs this information “to ensure registration records are accurate and to determine whether the transaction is in compliance with the regulations.” Comments are due March 18.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is working on a new final rule that could add to its list of proscribed countries under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Those countries are generally subject to an export license review policy of denial. DDTC sent the rule for interagency review Jan. 12.

Taiwan will soon expand its export controls against Russia and Belarus to align its restrictions with the U.S. and other trading partners, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a notice last week. The controls will apply to the list of 45 Harmonized System codes targeted by the U.S., the EU and others, which includes common high-priority items Russia is seeking to import for its military (see 2309200031 and 2310020023).

The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review that could make certain export control changes on items destined to Nicaragua. The rule, sent for review Dec. 20, would revise the export, reexport and in-country transfer controls for Nicaragua under the Export Administration Regulations “consistent with U.S. policy.”

The State Department completed an interagency review Dec. 15 for a final rule that could make revisions to the U.S. Munitions List. The rule would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations by removing certain high-energy storage capacitors from USML Category XI and “clearly identify” the capacitors that remain controlled in that category. The rule is expected to finalize an April interim final rule that removed export controls from certain high-energy storage capacitors (see 2304260017). The agency first sent the rule for review Oct. 13 (see 2310160008).

An industry advisory committee is planning to push the Bureau of Industry and Security to release guidance on how companies should be applying the agency’s various foreign direct product rules.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week officially extended the public comment deadline for its two China-related chip export control rules released in October (see 2312120055). The deadline, initially set for Dec. 18, was extended to Jan. 17. BIS said the extension will give industry and others more time to review the interim final rules and “benefit from the significant amount of public outreach that BIS is conducting on the rules prior to preparing and submitting their comments on the IFRs.”