Paper scrapped for most BIS export licenses

Paper scrapped for most BIS export licenses    The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule Monday eliminating the need for most paper-based recordkeeping related to export license activities.
   Effective May 5, the rule covers most export and re-export licenses, and notices covering denials of license applications, returns of license applications without action, results of classification requests, license exemption AGR (agricultural commodities) notification results, and encryption review request results.
   BIS administers an export licensing program based on the country's Export Administration Regulations. As part of this program, the agency issues various documents in response to applications and notifications submitted to BIS by the shipping public.
   On Dec. 4, BIS issued a proposed rule that would allow it to eliminate the paper version of the license-related documents that it issues both electronically in the Simplified Network Application Processing Redesign system (SNAP-R) and on paper.
   'BIS has been expending funds and staff to mail to certain parties information that is entirely duplicative of information that BIS sends to those same parties electronically,' the agency said. 'The changes in this rule will help BIS to reduce its operating costs and free the staff time that otherwise would be devoted to mailing paper documents to be used for other purposes.'
   BIS estimates that in recent years it has spent about $25,000 annually in direct mailing costs (envelopes, supplies and postage) to send out paper copies of licenses, responses to classification and encryption review requests, and license exemption AGR notifications. ' Chris Gillis