(a) Initiation of an assessment.

(1) Once BIS accepts a FAS or TAC certification of foreign availability, BIS will notify the claimant or TAC that it is initiating the assessment.

(2) BIS will publish a Federal Register notice of the initiation of any assessment.

(3) BIS will notify the Departments of Defense and State, the intelligence community, and any other departments, agencies and their contractors that may have information concerning the item on which BIS has initiated an assessment. Each such department, agency, and contractor shall provide BIS all relevant information concerning the item. BIS will invite interested departments and agencies to participate in the assessment process (See paragraph (e) of this section).

(b) Data gathering. BIS will seek and consider all available information that bears upon the presence or absence of foreign availability, including but not limited to that evidence described in §768.5 (b) and (c) of this part. As soon as BIS initiates the assessment, it will seek evidence relevant to the assessment, including an analysis of the military needs of a selected country or countries, technical analysis, and intelligence information from the Departments of Defense and State, and other U.S. agencies. Evidence is particularly sought from: industry sources worldwide; other U.S. organizations; foreign governments; commercial, academic and classified data bases; scientific and engineering research and development organizations; and international trade fairs.

(c) Analysis. BIS will conduct its analysis by evaluating whether the reasonable and reliable evidence that is relevant to each of the foreign availability criteria provides a sufficient basis to recommend a determination that foreign availability does or does not exist.

(d) Recommendation and determination.

(1) Upon completion of each assessment, BIS, on the basis of its analysis, will recommend that the Secretary make a determination either that there is or that there is not foreign availability, whichever the evidence supports. The assessment upon which BIS bases its recommendation will accompany the recommendation to the Secretary.

(2) BIS will recommend on the basis of its analysis that the Secretary determine that foreign availability exists to a country when the available evidence demonstrates that an item of comparable quality is available-in-fact to the country, from non-U.S. sources, in sufficient quantity so that continuation of the existing national security export control, or denial of the license application in question on national security grounds, would be ineffective in achieving its purpose. For a controlled country, such control or denial is “ineffective” when comparable items are available-in-fact from foreign sources in sufficient quantities so that maintaining such control or denying a license would not be effective in restricting the availability of items that would make a significant contribution to the military potential of any country or combination of countries detrimental to the national security of the United States.

(3) The Secretary will make the determination of foreign availability on the basis of the BIS assessment and recommendation; the Secretary's determination will take into account the evidence provided to BIS, the recommendations of the Secretaries of Defense and State and any other interested agencies, and any other information that the Secretary considers relevant.

(4) For all decontrol and denied license assessments (under section 5(f)(3) of the EAA) initiated by a FAS, the Secretary will make a determination within 4 months of the initiation of the assessment and will notify the claimant. The Secretary will submit positive determinations for review to the appropriate departments and agencies.

(5) The deadlines for determinations based on self-initiated and TAC-initiated assessments are different from the deadlines for claimant-initiated assessments (see paragraphs (f)(2) and (f)(3) of this section).

(e) Interagency review. BIS will notify all appropriate U.S. agencies and Departments upon the initiation of an assessment and will invite their participation in the assessment process. BIS will provide all interested agencies and departments an opportunity to review source material, draft analyses and draft assessments immediately upon their receipt or production. For claimant-initiated assessments, BIS will provide a copy of all positive recommendations and assessments to interested agencies and departments for their review following the Secretary's determination of foreign availability. For self-initiated and TAC-initiated assessments, BIS will provide all interested agencies an opportunity to review and comment on the assessment.

(f) Notification.

(1) No later than 5 months after the initiation of an assessment based on a FAS (claimant assessments), the Secretary will inform the claimant in writing and will submit for publication in the Federal Register a notice that:

(i) Foreign availability exists, and

(A) The requirement of a license has been removed or the license application in question has been approved; or

(B) The President has determined that for national security purposes the export controls must be maintained or the license application must be denied, notwithstanding foreign availability, and that appropriate steps to eliminate the foreign availability are being initiated; or

(C) In the case of an item controlled multilaterally under the former COCOM regime, the U.S. Government will conduct any necessary consultations concerning the proposed decontrol or approval of the license with the former COCOM regime for a period of up to 4 months from the date of the publication of the determination in the Federal Register (the U.S. Government may remove the license requirement for exports to non-controlled countries pending completion of the former COCOM regime review process); or

(ii) Foreign availability does not exist.

(2) For all TAC certification assessments, the Secretary will make a foreign availability determination within 90 days following initiation of the assessment. BIS will prepare and submit a report to the TAC and to the Congress stating that:

(i) The Secretary has found foreign availability and has removed the license requirement; or

(ii) The Secretary has found foreign availability, but has recommended to the President that negotiations be undertaken to eliminate the foreign availability; or

(iii) The Secretary has not found foreign availability.

(3) There is no statutory deadline for assessments self-initiated by the Secretary or for the resulting determination. However, BIS will make every effort to complete such assessments and determinations promptly.

(g) Foreign availability to controlled countries. When the Secretary determines that an item controlled for national security reasons is available to a controlled country and the President does not issue a National Security Override (NSO), BIS will submit the determination to the Department of State, along with a draft proposal for the multilateral decontrol of the item or for the former COCOM regime approval of the license. The Department of State will submit the proposal or the license for former COCOM regime review. The former COCOM regime will have up to 4 months for review of the proposal.

(h) Foreign availability to non-controlled countries. If the Secretary determines that foreign availability to non-controlled countries exists, the Secretary will decontrol the item for export to all non-controlled countries where it is found to be available, or approve the license in question, unless the President exercises a National Security Override.

(i) Negotiations to eliminate foreign availability.

(1) The President may determine that an export control must be maintained notwithstanding the existence of foreign availability. Such a determination is called a National Security Override (NSO) and is based on the President's decision that the absence of the control would prove detrimental to the United States national security. Unless extended (as described in paragraph (i)(7) of this section), an NSO is effective for 6 months. Where the President invokes an NSO, the U.S. Government will actively pursue negotiations with the government of any source country during the 6 month period to eliminate the availability.

(2) There are two types of National Security Overrides:

(i) An NSO of a determination of foreign availability resulting from an assessment initiated pursuant to section 5(f) of the EAA (claimant and self-initiated assessments); and

(ii) An NSO of a determination of foreign availability resulting from an assessment initiated pursuant to section 5(h) of the EAA (TAC-certification assessments).

(3) For an NSO resulting from an assessment initiated under section 5(f) of the EAA, the Secretary of any agency may recommend that the President exercise the authority under the EAA to retain the controls or deny the license notwithstanding the finding of foreign availability.

(4) For an NSO resulting from an assessment initiated under section 5(h) of the EAA, the Secretary of Commerce may recommend that the President exercise the authority under the EAA to retain the controls notwithstanding the finding of foreign availability.

(5) Under an NSO resulting from an assessment initiated under section 5(f) of the EAA, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives will be notified of the initiation of the required negotiations. The notice will include an explanation of the national security interest that necessitates the retention of controls.

(6) Under an NSO resulting from an assessment initiated under section 5(f) of the EAA, BIS will publish notices in the Federal Register consisting of:

(i) The Secretary's determination of foreign availability;

(ii) The President's decision to exercise the NSO;

(iii) A concise statement of the basis for the President's decision; and

(iv) An estimate of the economic impact of the decision.

(7) The 6 month effective period for an NSO may be extended up to an additional 12 months if, prior to the end of the 6 months, the President certifies to Congress that the negotiations are progressing, and determines that the absence of the controls would continue to be detrimental to the United States national security.

(8) After the conclusion of negotiations, BIS will retain the control only to the extent that foreign availability is eliminated. If foreign availability is not eliminated, BIS will decontrol the item by removing the requirement for a license for the export of the item to the destinations covered by the assessment. To the extent that the negotiations are successful and the foreign availability is eliminated, BIS will remove the license requirement for the export of the item to any country that has agreed to eliminate foreign availability.

(j) Changes in foreign availability. If BIS becomes aware of conditions, including new evidence, that affect a previous determination that foreign availability exists or does not exist, BIS may review the conditions. If BIS finds that the foreign availability previously determined no longer exists, or that foreign availability not earlier found now does exist, BIS will make a recommendation to the Secretary of Commerce for the appropriate changes in the control. The Secretary of Commerce will make a determination, and BIS will publish a Federal Register notice of the determination.