BIS Adds 28 Entities to the Entity List for Supporting Russia’s Military/Defense Industrial Base

On April 12, 2023, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a Final Rule in which it added 28 entities to the Entity List. The entities are companies located in Armenia , China, Malta, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Uzbekistan. Each was placed on the Entity List for attempting to evade export controls and acquiring, or attempting to acquire, U.S.-origin items in support of Russia’s military and/or defense industrial base. 

BIS determined that these companies have continued to procure, or attempt to procure, items on behalf of Russian entities that have been sanctioned since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. BIS further determined that most of the companies qualify as Russian or Belarusian ‘military end users’ under the Export Administration Regulations’ (EAR) controlled on certain end-users and end-uses. As such, these entities are receiving a Footnote 3 designation that subjects them to the Russia/Belarus-Military End User Foreign Direct Product (FDP) rule. These entities are added to the Entity List with a license requirement for all items subject to the EAR. They are added with a license review “policy of denial” for all items subject to the EAR apart from food and medicine designated as EAR99, which will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The two UAE companies are added to the Entity List for coordinating flights that assisted in the transfer of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), personnel, and related equipment from Iran to Russia, ultimately contributing to Russia’s military and defense industrial base. These UAE entities are now subject to a license requirement for all items subject to the EAR, and with a license review policy of a “presumption of denial.”

The full list of all 28 entities and identifying information is available here. 

This Final Rule is effective on April 12, 2023. However, BIS has stated that shipments of items removed from eligibility for a License Exception or export or reexport without a license (NLR) as a result of these this action that were en route aboard a carrier to a port of export or reexport, on April 12, 2023, pursuant to actual orders for export or reexport to or within a foreign destination may proceed under their previous eligibility without a license before May 12, 2023. Any such items not actually exported, reexported or transferred (in country) before midnight, on May 12, 2023, will require an export license from BIS.