Where Industry and Security Intersect
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WASHINGTON -- The Department of Commerce today announced revisions to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) which will implement certain requirements of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) relating to exports.
The CWC is a major arms control and nonproliferation treaty which, among other obligations, requires parties to the treaty to restrict and monitor international trade in certain toxic chemicals and precursors to ensure that they are not used to develop chemical weapons, and to report industrial activities involving these chemicals to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, headquartered in The Hague. The United States ratified the Convention on April 25, 1997 and enacted implementing legislation on October 21, 1998.
The rule published in today’s Federal Register amends the EAR to require advanced notifications and annual reports of exports of certain toxic chemicals and precursors, to extend licensing requirements to exports of certain chemicals and related technology not already subject to U.S. export controls, and to expand licensing requirements for certain chemicals already controlled. Commerce will publish a companion rule at a later date to implement other CWC reporting requirements that will subject a number of facilities in the United States to international inspection.
In addition to its new responsibilities under the CWC, the Department of Commerce, through its Bureau of Export Administration, administers and enforces export controls for reasons of national security, foreign policy, nonproliferation and short supply.
In April of 2002 the Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) changed its name to the Bureau of Industry and Security(BIS). For historical purposes we have not changed the references to BXA in the legacy documents found in the Archived Press and Public Information.