India: Removal of Indian Entity and Revision in License Review Policy for Certain Indian Entities; and a Clarification

On January 12, 2004, President George W. Bush announced the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) with India. The proposed cooperation outlined in the NSSP will progress through a series of reciprocal steps that build on each other, including steps related to enhancing cooperation in peaceful uses of space technology and steps to create the appropriate environment for successful high technology commerce. This rule implements three initial steps the United States has agreed to take under the NSSP. These steps are: To remove the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Headquarters, Bangalore from the Department of Commerce Entity List; to remove the export license requirements for items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) having a classification of EAR99 or a classification where the third through fifth digits of the Export Commodity Classification Number (ECCN) are "999", e.g. XX999, for the seven (7) ISRO subsidiaries listed on the Entity List; and establish a presumption of approval for all items not controlled for nuclear proliferation reasons going to the "balance of plant" portion of Indian nuclear facilities subject to International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards (Rajasthan 1 & 2 and Tarapur 1 & 2). This rule also makes one clarification in order to make clear the longstanding interpretation that information regarding the Entity List published in the Federal Register is intended to inform the public, not simply to inform exporters.