Airbus agreed to pay more than $3.9 billion in combined penalties for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Justice Department said. The bribery charges, levied by U.S., French and United Kingdom authorities, stem from Airbus’ scheme to bribe non-governmental airline executives and government officials, including officials in China, to retain aircraft contracts.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls published documents related to the Sept. 26, 2019, Defense Trade Advisory Group plenary meeting, DDTC said in a Jan. 28 notice. The documents include meeting minutes, presentations and a white paper.

Small and medium-sized companies can apply to attend one of the Australian government's free training seminars on U.S. export controls during March in Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, Australia said Jan. 23. The two-day seminars will provide companies with “practical expertise of current best practice” for dealing with technologies controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations, it said. The seminars are open to manufacturers and companies involved in research and development with “immediate intent or actively involved with US technologies subject to these regulations.”

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 21-24 in case you missed them.

Twenty states and Washington, D.C., sued the State and Commerce departments and asked a court to vacate the Trump administration's recently released final rules to transfer gun export controls to Commerce. The rules, scheduled to take effect March 9 (see 2001170030), will transfer export control authority from the State Department to Commerce for a range of firearms, ammunition and other defense items. The lawsuit said the rules will create a dangerous lack of oversight over technology and software used for the 3D printing of guns, and violates federal “notice-and-comment procedures” and the Arms Export Control Act.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released a recording of its Jan. 14 webinar about its Defense Export Control and Compliance System (see 2001210025 and 2001090014), DDTC said in a Jan. 23 notice. The webinar covers the “major features of the DECCS release,” including enrollment steps. DDTC plans to release the registration and licensing applications to the DECCS platform in February.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a Jan. 23 guidance on the final rules for the transfer of gun export controls from the State Department to the Commerce Department, including a clarification on license submissions during the transition period. The guidance also clarifies how the rules and transition period affect technical assistance agreements, manufacturing license agreements, reporting requirements, commodity jurisdiction determinations and regulatory oversight responsibilities. The rules -- which were published Jan. 23 and transfer export control authority from the State Department to Commerce for a range of firearms, ammunition and other defense items -- will take effect March 9 (see 2001170030).

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released slides from its Jan. 14 webinar (see 2001090014) about its Defense Export Control and Compliance System. The webinar was aimed at helping industry prepare for its launch, and includes information on how companies can enroll, highlights of the new platform and contact information for inquiries. DDTC plans to release the registration and licensing applications to the DECCS platform in February.

The Commerce Department released its final rule for transferring export controls of firearms, ammunition and other defense items from the State Department to Commerce. The rule revises the Export Administration Regulations to transfer items that no longer “warrant control” on the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List. The rule will be published alongside a final rule from the State Department, which details the changes made to Categories I, II and II of the USML and describes “more precisely” the items that warrant “export or temporary import control” on the USML. The rules, which have been highly anticipated by the firearms industry (see 1908130066), will be published Jan. 23 and take effect March 9.

GunUniversity.com posted a copy of a document that it says is the Commerce Department’s final rule for the transfer of export controls of firearms, ammunition and defense items from the State Department to Commerce. In a Jan. 14 post, the website said the rule will be published this week. The National Shooting Sports Foundation also expected the rule to be published this week (see 2001140043) and has called it the top concern of the gun industry (see 1908130066). Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has said he will block any attempt to transfer the controls from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List unless the administration abides by certain requests, including informing the Senate of certain licensed exports (see 1912160057). Commerce did not comment on the document’s authenticity.