BIS Update Conference 2012 - Summary of Day 3

Here is a summary of our live tweets (Hashtag #BISUpdate) from the third and final day of the Bureau of Industry's 25th annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy:

• Third and final day of BIS update now underway. Roundtable discussions with BIS, OEE, DDTC, OFAC and CBP staff very well attended. The roundtables are a great opportunity for exporters and one of the most useful aspects of BIS Update. 

• Open forum on export control reform and move of certain items from USML to CCL now underway. BIS Assistant Secretary Wolf now answering numerous questions on pending rules, including "specially designed" and transition rules. Public comments on those rules are greatly encourage. 

• Export control reform will greatly minimize number of commodity jurisdiction requests submitted. Idea is to make USML and CCL objective lists with bright lines on jurisdiction. 

• First 38(f) notification likely to be submitted by State to Congress later this fall. 

• Here is the export control reform "Iceberg" slide now on screen. http://t.co/gKZvPnf7. Here is export control reform "Iceberg" slide now on screen. Subtitled "a visual metaphor of relative and non-visible export control burdens, not sinking ships" 

• Final #BISUpdate sessions today on encryption controls, export control reform and export controls for small and medium sized companies. 

• Full text of remarks by Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Mills at BIS Update can be found here: http://t.co/QB0m24nK 

• BIS and Census are considering making changes to Routed Export Transactions. 

• Census Bureau likely to publish final rule making changes to Foreign Trade Regulations and AES filings later this year. 

• During final session on encryption controls BIS officials discussed the various changes to encryption regulations over the past 2 years, including the inclusion of Note 4 to category 5 part 2 and other types of encryption software not subject to the EAR. 

• Lots of positive comments from BIS Update attendees about program, speakers and venue of this year's Update conference. 

• Assuming that export control reform continues to move forward as we expect the CCL and USML should look very different at next year's version of BIS Update.

It is important for industry and exporters to continue submitting comments on the various proposed export control reform regulations issued by BIS and DDTC rules, including the proposed rule regarding the definition of "specially designed" and the "transition" rule. The deadline for submitting comments on those rules are August 3 and August 6, respectively.

Presentations from BIS are now posted on the BIS web site, Update 2012 Presentations or on the BIS BETA web site Update 2012 Presentations.

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BIS Update Conference 2012 - Summary of Day 2

Here is a summary of our live tweets (Hashtag #BISUpdate) from day 2 of the Bureau of Industry's 25th annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy:

• BIS Update day 2 starts with speech by Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Mills. 

• Today's breakout sessions include: deemed exports; entity list; regulatory review; automated export system.

• Mills: This year marks 30th anniversary of Office of Export Enforcement. OEE is only agency of US government that specializes in export enforcement.

• Mills: export enforcement statistics 2011 - criminal conviction on 10 companies and 29 individuals and $20 million in fines. Administrative penalties included 39 settlements and $8.5 million in civil penalties. 

• Mills - OEE encourages voluntary disclosures. Only small number of VSDs led to imposition of penalties. In FY 2011 BIS issued 227 warning letters and in FY 2012 181 warning letters have been issued to date.

• Mills: discussed a number of successful export enforcement investigations and penalty cases resolved over the past year.

• Mills: regarding VSDs, BIS has made significant progress in closing out VSD backlog. Mentioned following statistics: closed 60% of VSDs submitted in 2011 and 30% of VSDs submitted in 2012. Reiterated that 97% of VSDs resulted in no penalties.

• Mills: mentioned importance of complying with Antiboycott regulations. Noted that 8 antiboycott penalty cases were settled in 2011. Also mentioned US Govt meetings with boycotting countries has led to one country agreeing to remove boycotting language from documents.

• Next session is an interagency panel on export controls, including officials from Departments of State and Defense. Noted that 15,652 licenses issued by BIS in FY2012. 212 were sent to Operating Committee and 26 were sent to next level for review. 788 CJs were issued in FY12.

• Some other news from Update: BIS has unveiled a new Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) Interactive Compliance Tool on its website at http://t.co/xGa49eyv.

• Other news from BIS Update: A new address verification feature will be soon be added to SNAP-R electronic licensing system.

• In other sanctions news, today OFAC added a number of high ranking Syrian officials to the SDN List: http://t.co/4y9ypaMb

• Full text of opening remarks by BIS Under Secretary of Commerce Eric Hirschhorn at Update 2012 found here: http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2012/hirschhorn_update_2012.htm

• Full text of yesterday's remarks by BIS Assistant Secretary Kevin Wolf at Update 2012 found here: http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2012/wolf_update_2012.htm

• Keynote speaker at Update day 2 is FBI director Robert Mueller. 

• FBI Director Mueller now speaking at Update on export controls and enforcement issues. Noted impact of globalization on technology and information flows. Noted efforts by procurement networks to obtain controlled technology. Also noted internal threats by employees having access to controlled technology.

• RT @dcsleeps: Extremely powerful and moving presentation by Master Sergeant Jarrett Jongema re IEDs and counter-proliferation efforts.

• FBI Director Mueller mentioned several past and ongoing export controls enforcement investigations and convictions against persons and procurement networks. Noted importance of FBI's partnership with private sector in export control cases. Stressed importance of recognizing red flags.

• The full text of FBI Director's remarks today at Update can be found here on FBI's website: http://t.co/FTqaWGca

• Export enforcement panel now underway at Update. Moderated by DAS Salo. Panelists include directors of Office of Export Enforcement, Office of Antiboycott Compliance, Office of Chief Counsel and Office of Export Analysis.

• Export enforcement panel using pre-submitted question and answer format as in the past. Several questions on antiboycott compliance and jurisdictional issues, including scope of "US Commerce."

• Director of Office of Antiboycott Compliance said that BIS and UAE are working together to remove prohibited boycott language from agreements, tenders and other documents issued by UAE companies.

• BIS Office of Antiboycott compliance mentioned growing number of boycott requests involving Malaysia. 

• BIS will soon be issuing modifications to the Unverified List to update the parties on that list. Inclusion of a party on the Unverified List is a red flag.

Reminder: On Thursday, July 19th, Assistant Secretary for Export Administration Kevin Wolf and other BIS regulatory and technical specialists will address issues related to the current export control reform effort in open forum telephone conference calls on July 19th from 10:00 am-12:00 pm EDT and from 1:00 pm-3:30 pm EDT. While live questions will not be taken, callers are encouraged to submit questions to BIS in advance by e-mail the following email address: OESDSeminar@bis.doc.gov. The dial-in number and passcode for the teleconferences is as follows: Call in Number: 888-455-8218; Passcode: 6514196.

Presentations from BIS are now posted on the BIS web site, Update 2012 Presentations or on the BIS BETA web site Update 2012 Presentations.

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BIS Update Conference 2012 - Summary of Day 1

Today is the first day of the Bureau of Industry's 25th annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy. Here is a summary of our live tweets (twitter.com/tradelawnews) from day 1:

• Annual BIS export controls Update starts today in DC. More than 1000 attendees. Will live tweet over next few day. Hashtag #BISUpdate 

• For those not able to attend Update, materials and webcasts are available on BIS's website. See http://t.co/UpJUEu0a for details.

• First speaker - BIS Undersecretary Hirschhorn stressed need for exporters to stay engaged on export control reform (ECR). As part of Export Control Reform (ECR), first 38(f) notifications on transfer of items from USML to CCL will take place later this year. Future issues to be reviewed by BIS include cloud computing, deemed exports, CCL review, recordkeeping, etc. 

• Next speaker- Asst Secy of State Andrew Shapiro. ECR intended to prioritize controls, not decontrol items. Will lead to better enforcement. 

• Asst Secy Shapiro - "speculation that ECR is stalled is false". Momentum not being lost. Results of hard work on ECR are in reach. 

• Next speaker- Asst Secretary Wolf who has played key role in ECR. While ECR appears to be slow, actually moving quickly when looking at big picture. ECR will make export controls understandable by "Muggles." 

• USML Cat XI (electronics) likely to be published in coming weeks. Here is some information from on the record press briefing by senior BIS and State Dept officials at Update. BIS would like to issue changes to encryption rule in future. Other future changes to regs include cloud computing. Regarding 38(f) process, working closely with Congress and have made changes as a result. Concerned about various amendments to pending legislation on satellites that could have adverse impact on ECR. Hope that satellite legislation can be taken up this year. E2C2 export enforcement coordination center up and running. 

• Update breakout sessions on sanctions, AES, control list changes and end use monitoring. Many of the presentations can be found on the BIS website at http://www.bis.doc.gov/seminarsandtraining/update2012/presentations.htm 

• OFAC participated with BIS on sanctions panel and clarified some points on new Burmese general licenses. Also answered questions on various sanctions programs and licensing issues. OFAC clarified that the new reporting requirement in Burma GL applies to investments greater than $500,000 only and not sales over that amount. OFAC also stated that average processing time for Iran TSRA Ag/Med licenses is 3 months. No real downturn in applications of TSRA applications due to Iran payment issues. also, BIS reiterated importance of reviewing both OFAC and BIS regs due to overlap of jurisdiction in some programs. 

• Regarding press reports re Apple products being denied for Iranians in US, OFAC said that OFAC regs are not discriminatory but that an OFAC license is required when controlled good are exported to Iran. 

• Keynote speaker today is Acting Secretary of Commerce Dr. Rebecca Blank. Acting Secretary of Commerce Blank discussing National Export Initiative and other economic issues relating to exports, including new free trade agreements. Mentioned importance of repealing Jackson-Vanik and permanent MFN for Russia. Promoted current export control reform efforts and reiterated that ECR is not decontrol. Noted herculean efforts made so far in ECR and that no other administration has got this far. Hopes to have some final changes from USML to CCL published by end of year. 

• Export enforcement panel VERY well attended. Discussing IED components concerns and continued focus on enforcement involving China and Iran. Pakistan still an illegal procurer and discussed joint OEE and FBI investigation efforts in procurement networks. Also discussed trends in voluntary self disclosures. Noted only 3% of VSDs led to penalties. Will be 20% increase in enforcement outreach efforts. 

• DDTC and BIS panel discussing details on implementing ECR. All 600 series items must be reported in AES, regardless of value. Post departure AES filing not eligible for 600 series. Special destination statement required for 600 series items. BIS expects 30K increase in licenses. BIS information triage unit is reviewing legitimacy of exports. Enhanced data sharing with DDTC and end use monitoring. DDTC and BIS panel discussing details on implementing ECR.

• RT @CommerceSec: just finished with my remarks at the Conference on Export Controls Policy, hosted by our Bureau of Industry and Security. 

• Head of DDTC export compliance now discussing enforcement issues related to defense articles. Discussing end use checks, export license due diligence, red flags. 

•  Information and updates on export control reform can be found at http://export.gov/ecr

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Alternative Options Will be Available to Participate in Next Week's BIS Update Conference

The Bureau of Industry and Security's Annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy will take place in Washington, DC from July 17 - 19, 2012.

While registration for Update is now closed BIS has announced that it will be offering a number of  opportunities for those not able to attend the conference in person to participate in the program. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the pending export control reform efforts underway in Washington, DC.

First, there will be a live Web cast of the morning Update sessions on July 17 and July 18 (click here for the Update agenda). Viewers can log on from the following links:

Tuesday, July 17 – 8:30am-10:00 am EDT:
http://mtitv.com/ConferenceOnExportControls1.html

Wednesday, July 18 – 8:30am-10:00 am EDT:
http://mtitv.com/ConferenceOnExportControls2.html

In addition, Assistant Secretary for Export Administration Kevin Wolf and other BIS regulatory and technical specialists will address issues related to the current export control reform effort in open forum telephone conference calls on July 19th from 10:00 am-12:00 pm EDT and from 1:00 pm-3:30 pm EDT. While live questions will not be taken, callers are encouraged to submit questions to BIS in advance by e-mail the following email address: OESDSeminar@bis.doc.gov. The dial-in number and passcode for the teleconferences is as follows: Call in Number: 888-455-8218; Passcode: 6514196.

Speaker presentations received as of July 11 are now posted on the BIS web site, Update 2012 Presentations or on the BIS BETA web site Update 2012 Presentations.

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Summary of BIS 2011 Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy (Part 2 of 2)

For those readers that were not able to attend last month's Update 2011 Conference on Export Controls and Policy in Washington, DC, we are presenting a two part summary of the conference prepared by Benjamin Tarr, a law student at the American University's Washington College of Law who is focusing on international law. Below is part two, which covers days two and three of Update 2011. Part one, which covers the first day of Update 2011, can be found here.

Wednesday July 20, 2011

This day began with an Interagency Panel featuring speakers from BIS and the Departments of State and Defense. The first speaker was Ann Ganzer, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Non-Nuclear and Counter Proliferation. She underscored the need for a multilateral approach to export controls that would curtail and prevent instability. She noted that the State Department is working with the United Nations on arms embargo treaties and is working towards worldwide acceptance of non-proliferation standards in subsequent treaties.

Mr. Anthony Aldwell, Deputy Director of the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) highlighted four factors to be considered for whether to issue export licenses. First, the end state’s policies should be evaluated for friendliness or antagonism towards America’s interests. Second, the end state’s technology level shall be considered. Third, consider the end-user and its history. Fourth, consider the export licenses’ impact on America’s international agreements to ensure compliance with international law. 

He also discussed the key objectives of export control policy, including: protecting assets that give America’s military a critical edge in the fight against terrorism; fostering partnerships among allies; it should enhance enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Wednesday's keynote address was presented by Georg Pietsch, who serves as Director General, Export Controls, of Germany's Federal Office of Economics and Export Controls, which is is commonly known as BAFA.  Mr. Pietsch noted in 2010 approximately 2,700 companies, most of these medium sized companies, submitted over 35,000 formal licence applications to BAFA. In addition, more than 10,000 general inquiries were sent to BAFA’s technical and administrative experts. He noted that number of licence applications has increased by over 50% in six years and the total value of export licence applications received by BAFA in 2010 was approximately 13 billion Euros. He noted that this growth has been very difficult to handle for BAFA and is another reason why BAFA has been following the export control reforms in the U.S. very closely.

Mr. Pietsch addressed how U.S. export controls impact German and other European companies and he noted some legal concerns on the implementation of the State Department's recently published final rule on dual and third country nationals. In addition, he addressed how U.S. export control rules involving classification, exports/reexport and de minimis calculations have a significant impact on German companies.

Mr. Pietsch also addressed BIS's new Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) license exception. On the one hand he noted that "the willingness to enact such liberalizations for long-time partners is without doubt a step in the right direction to get rid of some ineffective, unduly burdensome regulations that restrict German–American economic relations." On the other hand he asked "whether the additional documentation requirements that will come with the STA are really necessary in the case of your closest allies" and that such requirements raise a number of issues for companies located in the European Union. (Editor's note: the full text of Mr. Pietsch's  speech can be found here.)

During the afternoon, there were a number of break out sessions, including one on the new I-129 Form and Deemed Exports. The main theme was the poor communication between compliance officials within the private sector.

The first day concluded with a review of export enforcement issues, including a keynote address by David Mills, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement and with an export enforcement panel led by Donald Salo, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement.

Assistant Secretary Mills noted that he is a strong supporter of outreach and information aimed at small to medium sized businesses since understanding all the elements of export controls remains a challenge and compliance with such laws should not need large staffs.

Striking the right balance between compliance, enforcement and the competitiveness of our exporting community is critical, and as a result, we seek to broaden a two-way dialogue on key control and enforcement issues.

With respect to voluntary self-disclosures, which he called a "pivotal element of compliance", Assistant Secretary Mills said that BIS has implemented a process to centralized the review process of VSDs in Washington, DC, which has resulted in more consistent and speedier resolution. He noted that in fiscal year 2010 226 VSD’s were closed.  Of these, 19% were found not to involve any actual violation, and 67% resulted in warning letters only.  Only 6% of the VSDs resulted in administrative sanctions.  He also said that during the first three quarters of fiscal year 2011, BIS received 193 VSDs, a disclosure rate comparable to previous years.

Mr. Mills also discussed some recent export enforcement cases and BIS's current focus on  seeking penalties against individuals or supervisors who are complicit in deliberate export control violations made by subordinates. (Editor's note: the full text of Mr. Mills' speech can be found here.)

Thursday July 21, 2011

           

In addition to the the popular roundtable discussion sessions with staff from BIS and other agencies, the main program on Thursday was an encryption workshop. In this session, the panel examined the changes made to the encryption provisions of the Export Administration Regulations that were published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2010.

This workshop noted some common encryption mistakes made by applicants. One mistake is that companies use the old Supplement No. Five to Part 742 of the EAR. Another common mistake is that the new Note Four to Category 5, Part 2 of the Commerce Control List, which eliminates encryption controls on many items where encryption is not the primary function, does not require registration and Note Four overrides every other Category Five requirement. 

Editor's note: The presentations from most of the panel presentations can be found here on the BIS website.

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Summary of BIS 2011 Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy (Part 1 of 2)

For those readers that were not able to attend last month's Update 2011 Conference on Export Controls and Policy in Washington, DC, we are presenting a two part summary of the conference prepared by Benjamin Tarr, a law student at the American University's Washington College of Law who is focusing on international law.

Day 1 - Tuesday July 19, 2011

The Update 2011 conference presented by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) commenced with a short welcome address from Mr. Bernard Kritzer, who serves as the Director of the Office of Exporter Services. He applauded President Obama for his August 2009 pledge to reform the export system to create a classification system which allows government organizations to focus on examining sensitive items for classification while allocating less effort to classifying conventional, non-sensitive items for national security reasons.

After Mr. Kritzer’s speech, Deputy Under Secretary for Industry and Security Daniel O. Hill addressed conference attendees. He announced that President Obama’s export control policies have succeeded, despite widespread skepticism and opposition expressed during Update 2010. Mr. Hill placed special emphasis on the fact that President Obama has led the effort to place the Defense, State and Commerce departments all on the same export control IT system, thus enabling greater efficiency in the export control process. Mr. Hill commended the participants in Update for attending, as the sold-out nature of the conference indicates a surge in interest and attention given to this field.

The morning’s events culminated with a by Eric L. Hirschhorn, Under Secretary for Industry and Security. Under Secretary Hirschhorn opined that the current export control system is based on outdated Cold War technologies and “is not responsive to current threats.” He noted that export control policy and American global competitiveness is directly linked to national security. He applauded the current efforts to implement of a more simplified U.S. Munitions List that created a tiered structural system designed to control sensitive items. This is important, according to Mr. Hirschhorn, because the private sector now manufactures most of the goods used by the military. He believes that the government should focus its resources on the most sensitive items going to countries that pose great risks to U.S. national security. Less important military items should be subject to lesser scrutiny than should items of high sensitivity.

Mr. Hirschhorn elaborated on the Administration's three-tiered control list and mentioned the recent implementation of license exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) where exporters can export certain items license-free, absent any specific statutory requirements, to 36 countries including Canada, Australia and countries in the European Union. Specifically, these export reform efforts have focused on eliminating “easy cases” from governmental scrutiny vis-à-vis licensing to enable government resources to focus more of its energy on cases that require further examination as to whether or not to grant licenses. License exception STA will potentially eliminate 3,000 of the 22,000 licenses issued by BIS.

Under Secretary Hirschhorn also mentioned the Administration's role in continuing the sanctions regimes on North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. He also noted BIS's role in efforts to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1540, which directs U.N. members to establish an export control system and to collaborate to advance non-proliferation and counterterrorism goals. Additionally, he noted the Executive Order requiring the BIS, FBI, and military intelligence to share information in counterterrorism efforts.

With respect to enforcement of export control laws and regulations, Mr. Hirschhorn mentioned that BIS will continue to penalize individuals for deliberate violations of BIS regulations with punishment including, but not limited to, fines, imprisonment, and a denial of export privileges. However, the penalties can be mitigated if voluntary self-disclosed. (Editor's note: the full text of Under Secretary Hirschhorn's speech can be found here.)

The next speaker was Assistant Secretary for Export Administration Kevin Wolf who noted that his three goals since joining BIS were: first, to ensure aggressive compliance with the laws and regulations that we have now; second, trying to address the biggest problems that exporters face on a day-to-day basis, such as unnecessary impediments on trade with U.S. allies and dealing with the overlap between the U.S. USML and the CCL. His long-term goal is to address the compliance burden faced by those subject to the U.S. export control system.

Assistant Secretary Wolf then provided detailed information on the recently published proposed rule on how items removed from the USML will be eventually controlled on the CCL. He also mentioned that later this year BIS will be issuing a notice soliciting public comments on efforts that can be taken to streamline and clarify the EAR and are reviewing the public comments received on the notice seeking information on making the CCL a more positive list. He noted that it is BIS's goal by the end of 2012 to have a comprehensive proposal to simplify the EAR and start addressing the regulatory compliance burdens that drain corporate resources. (Editor's note: the full text of Assistant Secretary Wolf's speech can be found here.)

The lunch speaker was William Daley, President Obama’s Chief of Staff and a former Secretary Commerce. He noted that President Obama’s goals will allow the U.S. to double its exports in five years. He also criticized the U.S. control system because it still contains two control lists, each with its own control and IT policies and noted that “One branch doesn’t know what the other is doing.” (Editor's note: The White House's summary of Daley's remarks can be found here).

In one of the afternoon break out sessions, panelists from BIS, OFAC, the State Department and DTSA briefed attendees on sanctions policy issues. Among other things, they noted the recent sanctions imposed on certain companies under the amended Iran Sanctions Act and recently listed Iran Air and Tidewater Mid East Company as supporters of Iran’s WMD program and has imposed sanctions on these two companies. Regarding the situation in Libya, BIS has suspended all licenses to Libya. However, no changes have been implemented vis-à-vis exception eligibility for licenses to Libya.

South Sudanese independence has resulted in challenges to BIS since the U.S. must decide which sanctions, if any, apply to South Sudan. Currently, South Sudan is not subject to anti-terrorism controls that previously applied to all of Sudan. But, sanctions do apply to areas where Sudan and South Sudan cooperate, including much of the oil and gas industry.

Editor's note: The presentations from the Sanctions Panel and other panel presentations can be found here on the BIS website.

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Bureau of Industry and Security Issues Agenda For Sold-Out Export Controls Update Conference

The Bureau of Industry and Security has posted on its website the agenda and program summary for the sold-out annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy that will be held from August 31 to September 2, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC.

Because the number of persons interested in attending Update again exceeded the number of slots available, BIS held a lottery this week to determine those that would be eligible to register.

Those persons that submitted an interest form but were not selected have been placed on a waiting list. BIS expects space to free up the week of July 26th and those persons who are placed on the waiting list will be advised if space becomes available to register.

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Pre-Registration Now Open for BIS Export Controls Update Conference to be Held in Washington, DC From August 31-September 2, 2010

The Bureau of Industry and Security will hold its 23nd annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy from August 31, to September 2, 2009 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. in Washington, DC. Note that this year's Update is being held a month earlier than in previous years and BIS expects the conference to move to July in coming years.

Because the expected number of attendees will likely exceed the number of persons interested in attending, BIS is again holding a registration lottery. Persons interested in attending the conference must first complete and submit the online “Interest Form” between June 15 and June 28 (be sure to click the green button on the lower right hand side to access the interest form).

If there are more potential participants than there is space available, BIS will grant registration through a random selection from the entire list of respondents, regardless of when received during the period. Those selected will be notified and given registration instructions in early July. They must register and submit payment by the designated date or their place will be forfeited and given to someone on the waiting list.

More information on the program agenda will be available in the coming weeks.

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Secretary Locke Proposes Reforms to Export Controls System During Speech at BIS Update Conference

In a speech today during the the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Update Conference on Export Controls, Commerce Secretary Locke announced that he has proposed that the Commerce Department, working with other government agencies, immediately explore pursuing two reforms that will "provide substantial relief" to U.S. exporters while strengthening U.S. national security and foreign policy interests:

• Eliminating dual-use export license requirements for allies and partner nations;
• Implementing a fast-track procedure for the review of dual-use export licenses for other key allies.

While the first of these proposed changes will require amendments to the Export Administration Regulations, the second proposed change may be able to be implemented fairly quickly. Stay tuned.

The full text of Secretary Locke's speech can be found here.

Click here to view the live Twitter feed from some of today's Update sessions.

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News from BIS Update Conference Posted on Twitter

Just posted some news from the export enforcement panel at BIS Update on our Twitter feed at twitter.com/tradelawnews.

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Secretaries of Commerce and Defense Meet to Discuss Export Control and Business Visa Reform

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke met yesterday with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at the Pentagon to discuss export controls and business visa reform. (Photo courtesy of Department of Commerce).

Locke and Gates met for approximately one hour and agreed to continue to work together with their counterparts at other cabinet agencies toward these reforms.

They plan to meet again in the next few weeks with fellow administration officials to address their progress.

On July 22nd Secretary Gary Locke said that "undertaking a review of export controls" is one of his top five priorities and that he has already instructed the Bureau of Industry and Security to initiate a review of the entire U.S. export control system. The White House subsequently announced that the Obama Administration would conduct a review of the U.S. export control system.

Secretary Locke will be the keynote speaker at next week's Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy presented by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.

We hope to see many of our readers at Update.

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BIS Announces Agenda and Other Details About Update 2009 Export Controls Conference

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has posted on its website the agenda and other details for the 22nd annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy that will be held in Washington, DC from September 30 through October 2, 2009.

In addition, BIS began sending registration information to persons that submitted their "interest form" and were randomly selected to attend. Since there was more interest than space available, those names that were not drawn will be placed on a waiting list and notified on how to register as space becomes available.

If you missed out on submitting the Update Interest Form and would like to be included on the waiting list, you can complete the wait list form.

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BIS Update 2009 to be Held September 30 - October 2, 2009

As a follow-up to our previous post, the Bureau of Industry and Security today announced that the 22nd annual Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy will be held September 30 through October 2, 2009 in Washington, DC.

Because the expected number of attendees will likely exceed the number of persons interested in attending, BIS will hold a registration lottery as they did in the past few years. Interested persons must first complete and submit the online “Interest Form” below between June 25 and July 17. If there are more potential participants than there is space available, BIS will grant registration through a random selection from the entire list of respondents, regardless of when received during the period. Those selected will be notified and given registration instructions in late July. They must register and submit payment by the designated date or their place will be forfeited and given to someone on the waiting list.

More information on the venue and program will be available in the coming weeks.

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BIS Update 2009 Likely Set for Last Week of September

While the specific dates and location have not been finalized, this year's Bureau of Industry and Security's annual update Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy should be held during the week of September 28, 2009 (end of September and beginning of October). Details on registration will follow once BIS has finalized the dates.

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