The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a Final Rule adding 120 Russian and Belarusian companies to the Entity List. Ninety-five companies (24 Belarusian entities and 71 Russian entities) are being added as they have been determined to be “military end users.” These entities will also be subject to the Russia/Belarus foreign “direct product” (FDP) rule. Another 25 Russian entities are being added to the Entity List for acquiring, and attempting to acquire, items subject to the EAR in support of Russia’s military modernization efforts. Their addition to the Entity List means these entities are subject to a license requirement – currently under a “policy of denial,” with no license exceptions available – for the export, reexport, export from abroad (as described under Russia/Belarus FDP rule), or transfers (in-country) of all items subject to the EAR destined to these entities. In addition to this Final Rule, BIS issued a press statement further discussing the designations and continuing efforts to “detect, identify, and restrict parties in Russia, Belarus, or elsewhere that seek to support” Russia’s military efforts in Ukraine.
This Final Rule was effective as of April 1, 2022, with formal publication in the Federal Register scheduled for April 7, 2022. BIS has stated that shipments of items subject to the Final Rule that, pursuant to actual orders that were en route aboard a carrier to a port of export, reexport, or transfer (in-country) on April 1, 2022 may proceed to that destination under the previous export eligibility without a license (NLR).