SECOND UPDATE, January 2019: We expect the “Final Rule” for this major transition to be published by the government around mid-March (pending possible delays due to the government shutdown). We then anticipate a roughly 6-month “delayed effective date” to be announced, meaning that the new regulations should be effective by the fall of 2019. We remain at the very forefront of this conversation and are excited to bring even greater efficiency and speed to our service offerings.
UPDATE August 2018: Borderview took part in lengthy face-to-face meetings in Washington, D.C. with government regulators from the U.S. Department of State (DDTC) and U.S. Department of Commerce (BIS) early this month. We discussed the formal comments we submitted to the government in July in support of the proposed rule changes, but requesting several changes to make the new regulations more clear, efficient and common sense. We remain on the forefront of these efforts and conversations and are preparing an exciting new future, aiming to dramatically increase the speed with which we can export firearm-related items from the U.S., especially to Canada. Stay tuned!
After years of rumors and government promises — it’s finally happening.
This morning the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Commerce posted to their website their ‘proposed rules’ to move jurisdiction of most firearm exports from the State Department (ITAR) to the Commerce Department (Export Administration Regulations — or “EAR”). Close observers may know that this change has been in the works for a long time. From the early days of the Obama administration, “Export Control Reform” was intended to move everything except the most militarysensitive items away from the ITAR and into the jurisdiction of Department of Commerce’s ‘Bureau of Industry and Security.’ Since the earliest days of these announcements, BORDERVIEW has closely followed progress — or lack thereof — and been in close touch with our government counterparts at these agencies and our industry associations.
Long story short, it looks like it’s finally happening. We’ll believe it when we see it, but this is the closest we’ve been in nearly a decade of discussions on the subject. In recent months our sources said the changes were really finally coming, and in the past few weeks the media caught wind of the imminent changes (click here for an overall good story with perspective on the history of the changes).
Here’s where we are now, and what’s left before it’s official: while the Department’s have posted the Proposed Rules on their websites, they still need to be published in the official ‘Federal Register‘ as proposed rules. When that happens, the clock starts ticking. From that date, the public will have 45 days to comment on the proposed rules as they go through the ‘Rulemaking Process‘. Then, each Department will review and consider the public’s comments to make possible changes to the proposed rules, before publishing the Final Rule. The final rule will announce a date that the transition would be effective, and explain exactly how the transition will occur (i.e. if there will be any overlap time for exporters, etc.).
So, BORDERVIEW will stay on top of it all, and we have big and exciting things in the works to make exports even more Surprisingly Simple, and faster too!. Stay tuned!
