Country Alert: Cambodia Added to ITAR 126.1 and EAR Military End-User Rule

On December 9, 2021, the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) issued a new rule (86 FR 70053) that adds Cambodia to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) § 126.1 list of prohibited destinations.  After Russia and Ethiopia, this is the third country added to § 126.1 this year.

Cambodia is now listed in § 126.1(o) with case-by-case exceptions related to conventional weapons destruction and humanitarian demining activities.

Also on December 9, the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a new rule (86 FR 70015) making parallel changes to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).  Under the EAR, Cambodia is now subject to military end use and end user controls in § 744.21 as well as military intelligence end use and end user controls in § 744.22.  Cambodia joins Burma, China, Russia, and Venezuela as subject to the military and military intelligence end use and end user controls.  

The primary rationale of the new listing is the military presence and other activities in Cambodia by the People’s Republic of China, particularly the construction of exclusive-use facilities on the Gulf of Thailand.  Corruption and human rights abuses were also identified as concerns leading to the § 126.1 listing (see the OFAC advisory below for more background).

In a related development, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a business advisory for Cambodia on November 10, 2021. 

For full details, check out the ECS Blog: Our EAR... to the ITAR.