The State Department has crafted new guidelines for preparing defense trade agreements and plans to release them soon, said Catherine Hamilton, licensing director at the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. She said the agency also plans to make changes to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to reflect the new document, which would update submission guidelines for Technical Assistance Agreements, Manufacturing License Agreements, and Warehouse and Distribution Agreements.

Although the Commerce and State departments have been able to conduct some export end-use checks during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said both agencies continue to face challenges scheduling on-site inspections.

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The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls recently posted a name change notice for L3 Micreo Pty Ltd and waived the requirement for amendments to change approved license authorizations because of the “volume” of authorizations requiring amendments to reflect the change, DDTC said. L3 Micreo Pty Ltd was changed to L3Harris Micreo Pty Ltd. New license applications received after March 3 that identify the old name “will be considered for return without action for correction.”

The State Department this week fined a U.S. electro-optics equipment manufacturer $840,000 after it illegally exported or tried to export defense items to several countries, including China and Lebanon. Torrey Pines Logic didn’t secure required export licenses before shipping its products, illegally participated in defense export activities while it was ineligible and didn’t maintain adequate export transaction records, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said in a charging letter released Jan. 31. TPL ultimately agreed to a series of remedial measures to improve its export compliance program, including hiring a DDTC-approved compliance officer.

The State Department this week proposed several changes to its defense export regulations, including one that would clarify definitions for “export” and “reexport,” another that would change language in its Canadian exemption and a third that would revise its exemption for certain transfers to dual or third-country nationals. The agency also proposed corrections that would fix administrative errors in the regulations. Comments on the proposed changes, which were released Feb. 1, are due April 4.

After a thermal imaging industry official this week said the Commerce Department hasn’t significantly updated its export controls surrounding infrared technologies since 2005 (see 2201260047), an agency spokesperson pointed to two recent regulatory actions that they said have updated controls.

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The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for an Idaho resident after the person tried to illegally export firearms from the U.S., BIS said Jan. 20. Khaldoun Hejazi was convicted March 2, 2020, of exporting defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List, which violated the Arms Export Controls Act. Hejazi was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, fined $30,000 and assessed $100. BIS denied Hejazi’s export privileges for five years from the date of conviction.

The State Department imposed sanctions on China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation First Academy, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Fourth, and Poly Technologies Incorporated due to missile technology proliferation, it said in a notice. Such entities are denied new individual licenses for items on the U.S. Munitions List and all items controlled under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 for two years.