The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls may be delayed in responding to queries sent to its help desk and response team this week as it catches up to industry inquiries submitted during the holidays, the agency said. Because of the government closure Dec. 25 “and depending on volume of inquires received, responses may be delayed through the following week,” DDTC said. “The processing of classified provisos for delivery may also be delayed.”

An Oakland, California, resident pleaded guilty last week to illegally exporting firearms and other defense items, including night vision goggles. DOJ said Fares Abdo Al Eyani tried to ship the items to Oman from the Port of Oakland in 2019, but U.S. law enforcement stopped the shipment from leaving the country.

The State Department completed an interagency review Dec. 15 for a final rule that could make revisions to the U.S. Munitions List. The rule would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations by removing certain high-energy storage capacitors from USML Category XI and “clearly identify” the capacitors that remain controlled in that category. The rule is expected to finalize an April interim final rule that removed export controls from certain high-energy storage capacitors (see 2304260017). The agency first sent the rule for review Oct. 13 (see 2310160008).

The Census Bureau published a set of questions and answers to provide more guidance for Automated Export System users trying to determine how to report the Ultimate Consignee in their Electronic Export Information (see 2310110044 and 2309080052). The Dec. 13 guidance answers questions on items involving ultimate consignees and routed export transactions, transactions that involve a license exception, how Census determines changes in the characteristics of an export that may add value to the item, transactions subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and more.

The State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System's advisory opinions application will undergo system maintenance from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST Dec. 11, the agency said last week. Users should refresh their browser if they "experience any delays in the application," DDTC said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a final rule last week to temporarily modify a note within its aircraft-related export controls under Category VIII of the U.S. Munitions List.

A senior State Department official this week said the U.S. is planning to eventually include other nations in an ongoing effort to reduce burdensome defense export control requirements for Australia and the U.K. In perhaps the strongest endorsement yet by a U.S. official of the concept, Bonnie Jenkins, undersecretary for arms control and international security, said the U.S. wants to involve other nations after it works through its current process under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a reminder to industry that on Nov. 18 it officially migrated to the “FedRAMP High instance of a multifactor authentication solution” in its Defense Export Control and Compliance System to improve security (see 2310170005). All users who didn't log into DECCS before Nov, 18 will need to contact the DDTC Help Desk to have their account password reset, the agency said. "Once reset, users will be able to log into DECCS as normal."

Congress should order a review of U.S. semiconductor export controls against China and ask the administration to create a public database of entities connected to China’s military, which would help U.S. companies with their compliance practices, a congressional commission said this week. The bipartisan commission also said Congress should explore the idea of a single export licensing system to streamline export requirements overseen by both the Commerce and State departments.