BIS cites progress with Entity List

BIS cites progress with Entity List Senior officials with the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security noted progress with how the agency is managing its new Entity List regulation.
   The regulation is 'working as intended,' said Matt Borman, acting assistant secretary for export administration, to industry members of the Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee in Washington Tuesday.
   The Entity List provides notice to the public that certain exports and re-exports to parties identified on the Entity List require a license from BIS and that availability of license exceptions in such transactions is limited. The parties on the list are determined by the U.S. government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.
   On Aug. 21, 2008, BIS implemented a regulation to expand the scope of reasons for adding parties to the Entity List. The list has since increased to 195 parties.
   'A lot of the names are on it because of Iranian procurement efforts,' said Kevin Delli-Colli, acting assistant secretary for export enforcement at BIS.
   The new Entity List regulation also amended the Export Administration Regulation (EAR) to present clear procedures for how parties may request their removal from the list. Previously, RPTAC members expressed concern that there appeared to be no chance for redemption for those parties added to the list.
   'It's not intended to be a death sentence for exporters,' Delli-Colli said. If companies demonstrate in their appeals that they have implemented improvements to their processes to avoid future violations, they may be removed from the Entity List, he explained.
   In a Feb. 24 Federal Register notice, BIS announced the first entity to be removed from the Entity List under its new regulation. BIS said its decision to remove Britestone of Hong Kong from the list was largely based on the company's cooperation with the U.S. government, as well as its assurances of future compliance with the EAR.
   Delli-Colli said the current Entity List includes names of shell companies initially set up to illegally procure U.S. exports. Once the agency targets them, the operations tend disappear. He said the flexibility in the new Entity List regulation allows BIS to remove 'clutter from the list.' ' Chris Gillis