Category XV Revised
Effective January 15, 2017, the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) has revised United States Munitions List (USML) Category XV, Spacecraft and Related Articles, in Federal Register Notice 82 FR 2889. Changes include new aperture specifications for remote sensing satellites under XV(a)(7) and XV(e)(2), the exclusion of the James Webb Space Telescope and “spacecraft that dock exclusively via the NASA Docking System (NDS),” and other spacecraft attributes and revisions.
Category XII Request for Comments
The Department of State also requested comments on recent revisions to USML Category XII, Fire Control, Range Finder, Optical and Guidance and Control Equipment, in Federal Register Notice 82 FR 4226. Specifically, the Department requests comments about “(1) alternatives to controls on certain items when ‘specially designed for a military end user,’ (2) the scope of the control in paragraph (b)(1), and (3) certain technical parameters that the Department is evaluating to replace ‘specially designed’ controls.”
Comments will be accepted by email or internet through March 14, 2017.
Amendments to AES References
Also, effective December 31, 2016 but published on January 3, 2017 in 82 FR 15, multiple sections of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) were amended to refer directly to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) International Trade Data System (ITDS). References to the Automated Export System (AES) have been removed and now refer to the CBP’s electronic systems (which now include the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)).