On March 28th, BIS issued a final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to confirm that protecting human rights worldwide is a basis for adding entities to the Entity List. Additionally, BIS added 11 entities from Burma, China, Nicaragua, and Russia to the Entity List.
As reflected in the decision by the DC Circuit in Changji Esqual Textile Co. Ltd v. Raimondo, 40 F.4th 716 (2022), BIS has the authority to add parties to the Entity List for purposes of protecting human rights. This authority stems from the foreign policy objectives set forth in the Export Control Reform Act, which includes the "protection of human rights and the promotion of democracy" as a purpose for controlling exports.
All 11 entities added to the Entity List under this final rule were added due, in part, to being implicated in various human rights violations including: providing Burma's military regime with military equipment, allowing it to conduct aerial attacks against Burmese civilians; being complicit in arbitrary or unlawful killings of civilians in Nicaragua; and aiding the implementation of mass arbitrary detention and high-tech surveillance against the Uyghur people and members of other Muslim minority groups in China.
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