COMING BIS IRAQ REGULATIONS WILL TAKE CONTROLS BACK TO 1990

It soon will be Back to the Future for export controls on Iraq. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is close to publishing new rules that will reestablish its jurisdiction for the licensing of exports to Iraq. The coming regulation will shift the licensing authority back to the agency from Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which has had to job since 1990.Until the BIS rules are published and become effective, exports of dual-use items to Iraq will be subject to the conditions established in five general licenses issued by OFAC in May (see The Export Practitioner, May 2003). If an item is on the Commerce Control List (CCL) and needs a license, the application must still go to OFAC.