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CFR Citation: 15 CFR Parts 772 and 774

Docket ID: [Docket No. 080208146-8148-01]

RIN ID: RIN 0694-AE23

NOTICE: RULES

ACTION: Revisions to the Export Administration Regulations:

DOCUMENT ACTION: Final rule.

SUBJECT CATEGORY: Revisions to the Export Administration Regulations Based on the 2007 Missile Technology Control Regime Plenary Agreements

DATES: Effective Date: This rule is effective: June 16, 2008. Although there is no formal comment period, public comments on this regulation are welcome on a continuing basis.

DOCUMENT SUMMARY: The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to reflect changes to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex that were agreed to by MTCR member countries at the November 2007 Plenary in Athens, Greece.

SUMMARY: 2007 Missile Technology Control Regime Plenary Agreements,

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is an export control arrangement among 34 nations, including most of the world's advanced suppliers of ballistic missiles and missilerelated materials and equipment. The regime establishes a common export control policy based on a list of controlled items (the Annex) and on guidelines (the Guidelines) that member countries implement in accordance with their national export controls. The goal of maintaining the Annex and the Guidelines is to stem the flow of missile systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction to the global marketplace.

While the MTCR was originally created to prevent the spread of missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, it was expanded in January 1993 to also stem the flow of delivery systems for chemical and biological weapons. MTCR members voluntarily pledge to adopt the regime's export Guidelines and to restrict the export of items contained in the regime's Annex. The implementation of the regime's Guidelines is effectuated through the national export control laws and policies of the regime members.

Amendments to the Export Administration Regulations

This final rule revises the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to reflect changes to the MTCR Annex agreed to at the November 2007 Plenary in Athens, Greece. Specifically, in section 772.1 (Definitions of Terms as Used in the Export Administration Regulations), this rule amends the technical notes to the definition of the term ``payload'' to include munitions supporting structures and deployment mechanisms under paragraphs (e)(5) and (e)(7) (MTCR Annex Change Definitions: ``Payload'' Technical Notes 5.e and 5.g). This will clarify under the paragraph (e) technical notes to the definition of ``payload'' that payload for ``other UAVs'' (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) includes munitions supporting structures and deployment mechanisms.

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In addition, this rule amends the Commerce Control List (CCL) (Supplement No. 1 to Part 774 of the EAR) to reflect changes to the MTCR Annex. Specifically, the following Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) are affected:

ECCN 1C111 paragraph (b) is amended by adding additional text to clarify the scope of materials controlled in this entry (MTCR Annex Change Category II: Item 4.C.5). Specifically, paragraph b.1 is amended to state that carboxyterminated polybutadiene includes carboxyl terminated polybutadiene. Similarly, paragraph b.2 is amended to state that hydroxyterminated polybutadiene includes hydroxylterminated polybutadiene. BIS expects this change to have a minimal impact on license applications.

ECCN 1C116 is amended by adding text to the heading to clarify the scope of the entry (MTCR Annex Change Category II: Item 6.C.8). This change is made to clarify that maraging steels are iron alloys generally characterized by high nickel, very low carbon content, and the use of substitutional elements or precipitates to produce strengthening and agehardening of the alloy. BIS expects this change to have a minimal impact on license applications.

ECCN 2B116 paragraph (a) is amended by removing the word ``and'' and replacing it with ``while'' to clarify the scope of the vibration test modes controlled under this paragraph (MTCR Annex Change Category

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Dennis L. Krepp, Nuclear and Missile Technology Controls Division, Bureau of Industry and Security, Telephone: (202) 4821309.