Commerce Establishes Export Licensing Requirement for Crimea | Practical Law

Commerce Establishes Export Licensing Requirement for Crimea | Practical Law

The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to require a license for the export and reexport of certain goods to the Crimea region of Ukraine. This final rule implements part of President Obama's December 2014 Executive Order that further expands US sanctions against Russia.

Commerce Establishes Export Licensing Requirement for Crimea

Practical Law Legal Update 0-598-1746 (Approx. 4 pages)

Commerce Establishes Export Licensing Requirement for Crimea

by Practical Law Commercial
Published on 29 Jan 2015 • USA (National/Federal)
The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to require a license for the export and reexport of certain goods to the Crimea region of Ukraine. This final rule implements part of President Obama's December 2014 Executive Order that further expands US sanctions against Russia.
The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to impose new restrictions on exports to the Crimea region of Ukraine (Russian Sanctions: Licensing Policy for the Crimea Region of Ukraine, 80 Fed. Reg. 4776-01 (Jan. 29, 2015)). Specifically, this final rule amends the EAR by adding Section 746.6 (15 C.F.R. § 746.6), which imposes a licensing requirement, and a presumption of denial, for:
  • The export and reexport to the Crimea region of all items subject to the EAR.
  • The transfer within the Crimea region of all items subject to the EAR.
The EAR control the transfer, export and reexport of certain:
  • Items that have dual commercial and military applications.
  • Commercial items that do not have an obvious military use.
Items subject to the EAR generally include:
  • All items in the US, including items that are:
    • in a US Foreign Trade Zone; or
    • moving in transit through the US from one foreign country to another.
  • All US origin items wherever they are located.
  • Foreign-made commodities that either incorporate controlled US origin commodities or are bundled with controlled US origin software.
  • Certain foreign-made direct products of US origin technology or software.
  • Certain commodities produced by any plant or major component of a plant located outside the US that are a direct product of US origin technology or software.
For more information on US export laws, including the EAR and other sanctions rules, see Practice Note, Export Regulations: EAR, ITAR, and FTR.
This new license requirement does not apply to the export, reexport or internal transfer of food and medicine.
The BIS adopted this rule following President Obama's December 2014 Executive Order expanding sanctions against Russia (see Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine, Exec. Order No. 13685, 79 Fed. Reg. 77357 (Dec. 19, 2014)). For more information on recent sanctions against Russia, see Legal Updates, US Imposes Tighter Sanctions on Key Russian Sectors and Updated: Department of Treasury Further Expands Sanctions Against Russia. This rule is effective on January 29, 2015.