BIS Suspends Availability of Hong Kong License Exceptions

On July 31, 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a Federal Register Notice (FRN) amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to “suspend the availability of all License Exceptions for Hong Kong that provide differential treatment as compared to those available to the People’s Republic of China (PRC)…These new security measures undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy and thereby increase the risk that sensitive U.S. technology and items will be illegally diverted to unauthorized end uses and end users in the PRC or to unauthorized destinations such as Iran or North Korea.” These changes were originally announced in a notice on June 30, 2020.

The FRN identifies thirteen affected license exceptions, including:

  • Shipments of Limited Value (LVS)
  • Shipments to Group B Countries
  • Technology and Software under Restriction (TSR)
  • Computers, Tier 1 only (APP)
  • Temporary Imports, Exports, Reexports, and Transfers (in-country)(TMP) 
  • Servicing and Replacement Parts and Equipment (RPL)
  • Governments (GOV) (§ 740.11(c)(1)—Cooperating Governments only));
  • Gift Parcels and Humanitarian Donations (GFT)
  • Technology and Software Unrestricted (TSU)
  • Baggage (BAG)
  • Aircraft, Vessels, and Spacecraft (AVS)
  • Additional Permissive Reexports (APR)
  • Strategic Trade Authorization (STA)

The rule is effective July 31, 2020.

The FRN can be found here:

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-07-31/pdf/2020-16278.pdf?utm_campaign=subscription+mailing+list&utm_source=federalregister.gov&utm_medium=email

The original notice can be found here:

https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/documents/pdfs/2568-suspension-of-license-exceptions-for-exports-and-reexports-to-hong-kong/file