Implementation of the 2008 Australia Group (AG) Intersessional Decisions; Additions to the List of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is publishing this final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement the 2008 Australia Group (AG) intersessional decisions, which were recommended at the Intersessional Implementation Meeting held at The Hague on October 8-9, 2008, and adopted under the AG intersessional silent approval procedures in December 2008. This final rule amends the EAR to reflect changes to the AG "Control List of Dual-Use Chemical Manufacturing Facilities and Equipment and Related Technology and Software" affecting valves and toxic gas monitoring systems. Consistent with these changes, this rule expands the EAR controls on valves to include those having contact surfaces lined with certain ceramic materials. In addition, this rule clarifies the types of dedicated detecting components that are subject to the EAR controls on toxic gas monitoring systems and expands these controls to include dedicated software for such systems. This rule also amends the EAR to reflect changes to the AG "Control List of Dual-Use Biological Equipment and Related Technology and Software" affecting cross (tangential) flow filtration equipment. Consistent with these changes, the rule clarifies the EAR controls on such equipment to specifically identify equipment using disposable or single-use filtration components. In addition, this rule amends the EAR to reflect changes to the AG "Guidelines for Transfers of Sensitive Chemical or Biological Items." Consistent with these changes, the rule amends the AG-related software entries in the EAR to include references to several definitions that were recently added to the AG "Guidelines." Finally, this rule amends the list of countries that currently are States Parties to the CWC by adding "Bahamas," "Dominican Republic," "Iraq," and "Lebanon," which recently became States Parties. As a result of this change, the CW (Chemical Weapons) license requirements and policies in the EAR that apply to these count