BIS looks into uncooled thermal imaging cameras in China

BIS looks into uncooled thermal imaging cameras in China The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security will spend the next 90 days assessing the foreign availability of uncooled thermal imaging cameras in China.
   BIS is required to perform the assessment in response to a petition certified by the Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee (SITAC), which asserts that uncooled thermal imaging devices are widely available in China and render U.S. export controls ineffective in achieving their purpose.
   As part of its assessment, which will be delivered to the commerce secretary, BIS will solicit public comments and recommendations from other federal agencies.
   The commerce secretary will consider the recommendations and notify both the SITAC and Congress of the final determination.
   “If foreign availability exists, the department may remove the license requirement, unless the president determines that this would be detrimental to national security,” BIS said in a Sept. 2 statement. “Alternatively, the secretary may recommend to the president that negotiations be undertaken to eliminate the foreign availability.”
   SITAC’s 98-page report is available online at www.bis.doc.gov/pdf/sitac_fa_submission.pdf.
   The Federal Register notice announcing BIS’s 90-day assessment is also accessible online at edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-20168.htm. Comments are due to BIS by Sept. 17.