Transportation and Related Equipment Technical Advisory Committee
(TransTAC)

November 15, 2012
U.S. Department of Commerce
Bureau of Industry and Security
Washington, DC

OPEN SESSION

TransTAC members in attendance:  (Industry) Mr. Ari Novis (TransTAC Chair), Mr. Joe Bergeron, Ms. Kimberly DePew, Mr. Jim Downs¹, Mr. Simon Gharibian, Mr. Dean Johnson¹, Mr. Kenneth Lyons, Mr. Michael Osborne, Mr. Howard Pfeifer, Mr. Donald Stevenson, and Mr. Charles Volk. (Government) Mr. Dan Squire (DFO).
Others present:  The complete list of attendees is attached at the end of these minutes.

Opening remarks
Mr. Ari Novis called the meeting to order at 9:29 a.m. and introductions were made around the room.

Mr. Mel Carpenter from Boeing was introduced as the newest TransTAC member. 

Visit from Kevin Wolf - Assistant Secretary for Export Administration

Mr. Kevin Wolf introduced Mr. Ray Garcia, a licensing officer for the Munitions Control Division, which will handle the 600 series items. 

Mr. Kevin Wolf offered a general status of Export Reform progress.  This included an overview of the path taken by a rule from proposal to a final rule cleared for publication.  At this time there are a number of rules in the queue for official review.

Mr. Kevin Wolf provided details of the process used to review and address the numerous public comments and their impact on the final rules.

Expect to see Category XI (electronics) and the CCL Clean-Up proposed rules published soon. 

Mr. Kevin Wolf discussed the roll-out of Export Control Reform (ECR) through the Congressional 38(f) process.  The initial set of regulations (aka ‘The Beast”) encompasses the necessary structural changes, transition rule, Category VIII/XIX, and the complementary 600 series entries.  There was a general discussion regarding the challenges of implementation, as brought up in various public comments.

Mr. John Varesi opened a discussion on composite tape and tow, and their placement machines.  Ms. DePew offered to bring this up at the next Composite Working Group in December. 

CCL Review – Working Group Reports

Transportation TAC (TransTAC) members described the status of the review for Categories 7-9 of the Commerce Control List (CCL), as well as efforts underway by the Composite Working Group.

Category 7

Inertials - Mr. Mike Osborne provided a status on the Inertial portion of Category 7:

A member of the Inertial TWG (Mr. Volk) provided in-person support of the Fall Wassenaar meeting.

With the changes to 7A1 accepted, the focus will move to 7A3, specifically the language of Inertial Units.  The goal will be to identify the functions of concern and avoid simply using nomenclature, which is not standardized.

Challenges include writing the controls so item classification can typically be done through published specifications, and the advancing capability of consumer products.

AFCS - Mr. Don Stevenson provided a status on the AFCS TWG:

The AFCS TWG was on call to support questions or discussions that arose during the Fall Wassenaar meeting.

The proposal to update the AFCS control text in 7.D.3 and 7.E.4.b was accepted at the Wassenaar Fall Expert’s Group Meeting.  We are waiting for the vote at the December Plenary session.

9.D.4 - Mr. Ari Novis provided a status on the 9.D.4 Software TWG:

A subteam has drafted a 9.D.4.g paper to review the current 9.D.4.g regulation for clarity, appropriateness, and need.

The TWG is considering clarifying the wording of 9.D.4.b to note that specific ‘low technology’ or similar simple functions, such as an overspeed shutdown, would not be controlled.  

Category 9

9.E.3.a.4/a.5 TWG Status - Ms. Kim DePew provided a status on the a.4/a.5 working group activities.

• The TWG has met several times to discuss the 9.E.3.a.5 language and desired updates.
• Leveraging 2011-approved Wassenaar change for 9.E.3.a.2. to update 9.E.3.a.5
• Have developed a verbose “proposal” which attempts to address:
  • Deterioration, power setting, continuous vs. brief high temperatures, and average vs. streak temperatures, where temperature is calculated/measured on part in question.
  • Land engines vs. aircraft engines.
  • “Designed to” vs. “exposed to” language.
• Plan to analyze/adjust thresholds to avoid control rollback.
• Members of the a.4/a.5 TWG (Ms. DePew, Mr. Novis) will provide in-person support of the Fall Wassenaar meeting.
• The final wording was accepted at the Fall meeting.  We are waiting for the vote from the December Plenary session.

Composite Working Group

Ms. Kim DePew provided a status on the Composite working group (CWG) activities. 

• Continue to meet monthly.
• Ready to support USG on foreign proposals.
• Ready to support discussions on proposal for NSG controls on 1C210 materials (slit composites.)
• The 1.B.1 subteam continues to meet to discuss which components and accessories should be considered “specially designed” for a couple of sub-entries (1B001.b, d.1, e, f, & g).  The hope is to develop a proposal to specifically call out those items rather than using the catch-all, “specially designed therefor.”
• Have recommenced discussions on how controls apply to recyclable materials – determining whether a CCATs or AO request will be our next course of action.
• Plan to continue effort on 9.E.3.a.3 proposal (overlap w/ 1.E.1).

Proposals/Comments from the public

Mr. Bill Root spoke extensively on the proposed definition of “specially designed,” provided significant historical perspective.

The Open Session adjourned at 11:07 a.m.

Open Session Attendees
November 15, 2012 TransTAC

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¹By phone