On January 19, 2017, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket No. 170104015–7015–01] that amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement the India-U.S. Joint Statement of June 7, 2016 (June Statement), which recognized the United States and India as Major Defense Partners. This rule amends the EAR by establishing a licensing policy of general approval for exports or reexports to or transfers within India of items subject to the EAR and controlled only for National Security or Regional Stability reasons. In addition, BIS amends the end use and end user provisions of the Validated End User (VEU) authorization to state that items obtained under authorization VEU in India may be used for either civil or military end uses other than those that are for use in nuclear, ‘‘missile,’’ or chemical or biological weapons activities.
