Commerce Control List: Nuclear Suppliers Group Update

Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) publishes this final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to reflect changes reached by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in its June 2019 plenary meeting in Nur-Sultan (now Astana), Kazakhstan and its plenary meeting of June 2022 in Warsaw, Poland.

Consistent with U.S. commitments as a participating country in the NSG, this rule revises five existing Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) under the Commerce Control List (CCL). These changes protect U.S. nuclear nonproliferation interests, while aligning the EAR with the control text agreed to by participating governments (PGs)

Background

BIS is amending the CCL, supp. no. 1 to part 774 of the EAR, 15 CFR parts 730- 774, consistent with U.S. commitments as a participating country in the NSG.

The NSG is a multilateral export control forum that consists of 48 PGs. The NSG maintains two lists of items that are subject to multilateral controls (collectively, the NSG Guidelines):

• first, a list of items especially designed or prepared for nuclear uses, also known as the trigger list;
• second, a list of dual-use items that could be used for nuclear proliferation activities.

The list of dual-use items is maintained in the Annex to Part 2 of the “Guidelines for the Transfer of Nuclear Related Dual Use Equipment, Materials, Software and Related Technology.”

NSG participating countries share a commitment to prevent nuclear proliferation and the development of nuclear-related weapons of mass destruction. In furtherance of that commitment, they have undertaken to impose export controls on the items listed in the Annexes to the NSG Guidelines. The NSG Guidelines and the Annexes thereto are designed to ensure that nuclear trade for peaceful purposes does not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons or related proliferation activities.

The changes reflected in this rule correspond to changes agreed to in the NSG plenary meeting of June 2019 in Nur-Sultan (now Astana), Kazakhstan and the plenary meeting of June 2022 in Warsaw, Poland.