Study Guide

The Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod announced last week at the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) 2022 Annual Conference a new “Academic Outreach Initiative” by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Commerce Department. The Initiative is aimed at assisting universities, particularly those engaged in proprietary research, in developing and implementing an Export Management Compliance Program (EMCP) to ensure compliance with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The global response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered wide-reaching sanctions and new export control restrictions that are changing on a daily basis. While it remains to be seen how these new restrictions will ultimately affect U.S. academic research and higher education institutions, these measures already have serious implications not only for joint academic and research collaborations in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, but also for those programs and students in the United States with a link to one of these countries. 

The U.S. Commerce Department has added China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) and 11 of its affiliated research institutes to the Entity List, thereby prohibiting exports, reexports and in-country transfers of American technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to these institutions without a government license. The Entity List identifies entities that the U.S. government has reasonable cause to believe have been involved, are involved or pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. The Biden-Harris administration announced that the addition of AMMS and other Chinese entities was in response to China’s efforts to “develop and deploy biotechnology and other technologies for military applications and human rights abuses,” referring in part to China’s surveillance and repression of the Uyghur minority.