On and effective April 8, 2022, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a Final Rule that expands upon prior export control restrictions placed on Russian and Belarus in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This rule expands restrictive license requirements to include Commerce Control List (CCL) categories 0-2, which include materials and equipment relevant to nuclear, chemical, and materials processing. It applies additional export restrictions established under previous Russia and Belarus rules to now include the three remaining categories of controlled technology on the Commerce Control List (CCL) which had previously not been applied to Russia and Ukraine. For past BIS actions see Updates of March 4, 2022 and February 25, 2022.

While BIS noted that the vast majority of items in CCL categories 0-2 already required a license for Russia and Belarus (or are subject to the licensing authorities of other agencies), this Final Rule imposes new license requirements for items including certain composite materials, medical products containing certain toxins or genetically modified organisms, hydraulic fluids, pumps, valves, and lower-level machine tools. The rule also applies the foreign “direct product” rule for Russia/Belarus to apply to all items in categories 0-9 of the CLL. In reviewing any license application, BIS has stated they it will typically apply a “policy of denial.”

This Final Rule also limits certain provisions of the license exception for aircraft (AVS) for aircraft registered in, owned or controlled by, or under charter or lease by Belarus or a national of Belarus.

BIS has stated that for these expanded CCL controls, shipments of items removed from eligibility for a License Exception or export or reexport without a license (NLR) as a result of these new export restrictions that were en route aboard a carrier to a port of export or reexport, on May 9, 2022, pursuant to actual orders for export or reexport to Burma, may proceed under their previous eligibility.