U.S. facilitates exports to help Syrians rebuild

   The U.S. State Department on Wednesday announced a new limited waiver of the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (SAA) to allow the export and re-export, under license, of certain reconstruction-related items for the benefit of the Syrian people.
   Consistent with Section 5(b ) of the SAA and the May 11, 2004 Executive Order 13338, the waiver authorizes the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to issue licenses on a case-by-case basis for the export or re-export of certain commodities, software and technology, including but not limited to those related to water supply and sanitation, agricultural production and food processing, power generation, oil and gas production, construction and engineering, transportation, and educational infrastructure, as a means of helping to address the critical needs of the Syrian people and facilitating reconstruction.
   The export and re-export of food and medicine do not currently require a license, while medical devices and telecommunication commodities may be licensed under pre-existing waivers.
   “BIS will publish an implementing regulation shortly. However, exporters and reexporters may immediately submit license applications for consideration under the new waiver,” the Commerce agency said.
   The United Nations estimates that as many as 93,000 people have died so far in the country’s bloody civil war, which started in March 2011.