Regulation, Compliance 16 Jan 2025 business and industry, administrative practice and procedure, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, business compliance, research, exports, export control, terrorism, confidential business information, inventions and patents, science and technology, advanced computing, semiconductor, due diligence

📊New Compliance Measures for Advanced Computing ICs Effective 2025

BIS is revising the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) in response to requests from the public to provide additional due diligence procedures regarding advanced computing integrated circuits (ICs). This interim final rule (IFR) will protect the national security of the United States and assist foundries and Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test ("OSATs") companies in complying with provisions of the EAR pertaining to advanced computing ICs in the supply chain. This IFR also revises the EAR to make amendments and clarifications to the EAR for changes made to the EAR in an IFR released by BIS on December 2, 2024, "Foreign-Produced Direct Product Rule Additions, and Refinements to Controls for Advanced Computing and Semiconductor Manufacturing Items," (FDP IFR), including extending the deadline for written comments for the FDP IFR to March 14, 2025.

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Regulatory Compliance, Trade Policy 16 Jan 2025 national security, commerce department, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, entity list, terrorism, exports, business compliance, export regulations

🛑New Export Regulations

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding 16 entities to the Entity List, under the destinations of China, People's Republic of (China) (14) and Singapore (2). These entities have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.

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Compliance, Trade Policy 16 Jan 2025 national security, china, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, trade, entity list, compliance, terrorism, exports, export regulations, india

🚫New Export Regulations Impacting Business with China and India

In this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding 11 entities under 11 entries to the Entity List. These entries are listed on the Entity List under the destination of China, People's Republic of (China) (11). These entities have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security and/or foreign policy interests of the United States. This rule also revises one existing entry on the Entity List under the destination of India.

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Compliance, Environmental Regulations 16 Jan 2025 compliance, endangered species, agriculture, transportation, imports, wildlife, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, california, exports, endangered and threatened species, plants, habitat conservation, water management

🐟Proposed Rule for Clear Lake Hitch

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Clear Lake hitch (Lavinia exilicauda chi), a freshwater fish subspecies in the North American minnow family that is restricted to the Clear Lake watershed in Lake County, California, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition to list the Clear Lake hitch. After a review of the best available scientific and commercial information, we find that listing the Clear Lake hitch is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Clear Lake hitch as a threatened species with protective regulations issued under section 4(d) of the Act ("4(d) rule"). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add the Clear Lake hitch to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to this subspecies.

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Regulatory Compliance, Export Control 16 Jan 2025 national security, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, administrative practice and procedure, compliance, u.s. department of commerce, biotechnology, terrorism, exports, export regulations

⚖️New Export Controls on Biotechnology Equipment for Businesses

With this interim final rule (IFR), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is revising the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to address the accelerating development and deployment of advanced biotechnology tools contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. This rule institutes new controls on certain biotechnology equipment and related technology. It further solicits public comments on the changes it implements.

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Regulation, Compliance, Technology 15 Jan 2025 business and industry, administrative practice and procedure, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, business compliance, national security, research, exports, terrorism, confidential business information, artificial intelligence, inventions and patents, technology regulation, science and technology, export controls

🤖New Export Controls Impacting AI Technology and Business Compliance

With this interim final rule, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) revises the Export Administration Regulations' (EAR) controls on advanced computing integrated circuits (ICs) and adds a new control on artificial intelligence (AI) model weights for certain advanced closed-weight dual-use AI models. In conjunction with the expansion of these controls, which BIS has determined are necessary to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, BIS is adding new license exceptions and updating the Data Center Validated End User authorization to facilitate the export, reexport, and transfer (in-country) of advanced computing (ICs) to end users in destinations that do not raise national security or foreign policy concerns. Together, these changes will cultivate secure ecosystems for the responsible diffusion and use of AI and advanced computing ICs.

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Regulatory Compliance, Financial Implications 15 Jan 2025 compliance, regulation, banking, administrative practice and procedure, penalties, treasury department, exports, civil penalties, ofac, banks, inflation, foreign trade, blocking of assets

📈OFAC Adjusts Civil Monetary Penalties for Inflation, Effective 2025

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is issuing this final rule to adjust certain civil monetary penalties for inflation pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.

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Environmental Compliance, Regulatory Requirements 15 Jan 2025 endangered species, transportation, imports, wildlife, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, business compliance, environmental regulations, california, exports, endangered and threatened species, plants, critical habitat, longfin smelt

🐟Designation of Critical Habitat for Bay-Delta Longfin Smelt

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the San Francisco Bay-Delta distinct population segment (DPS) of the longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys), a fish species from the San Francisco Bay estuary in California, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 91,630 acres (37,082 hectares) in California fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. We also announce the availability of an economic analysis of the proposed designation of critical habitat for the species.

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Compliance, Regulatory Requirements 15 Jan 2025 transportation, imports, wildlife, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, business compliance, endangered species act, exports, endangered and threatened species, plants, habitat conservation, grizzly bear, wildlife regulations

🐻New Grizzly Bear Listing

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or FWS), propose to revise the listing of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the lower-48 States under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act or ESA). After a review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we affirm that the currently listed grizzly bear population meets our requirements for consideration as a distinct population segment (DPS) under the Act and that the population remains likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future. However, we find that clarification of the geographic areas included within the DPS is warranted. Therefore, we propose to revise the listing by defining the boundaries of the contiguous U.S. grizzly bear DPS. The revised entity would include all geographic portions of the currently listed lower-48 entity that contain suitable habitat and where grizzly bears are currently found or are likely to be found in the future as populations recover. This area includes all of Washington and portions of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The contiguous U.S. grizzly bear DPS would retain threatened species status. This proposed rule would promote conservation of the grizzly bear by ensuring that the listing under the Act explicitly reflects the areas where grizzly bears currently occur and are likely to occur in the future. Clarifying that the listing does not include areas outside of the grizzly bear's historical range will assist as recovery proceeds. We are also proposing to revise protective regulations for the grizzly bear issued under section 4(d) of the Act.

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Compliance, Regulatory Changes 14 Jan 2025 compliance, imports, administrative practice and procedure, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, postal service, freight, harbors, vessels, exports, e-commerce, trade agreements, import, organization and functions (government agencies), bonds, seals and insignia, customs regulations, lotteries, low-value shipments, duty-free entry

📦New Regulations for Low-Value Shipments

This document proposes amendments to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations pertaining to the entry of certain low-value shipments not exceeding $800 that are eligible for an administrative exemption from duty and tax. Specifically, CBP proposes to create a new process for entering low-value shipments, allowing CBP to target high-risk shipments more effectively, including those containing synthetic opioids such as illicit fentanyl. This document also proposes to revise the current process for entering low-value shipments to require additional data elements that would assist CBP in verifying eligibility for duty- and tax-free entry of low-value shipments and bona-fide gifts.

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