A recent story in the New York Times reveals that the Bureau of Industry and Security is drafting new rules relative to exports of crime control equipment to China. The revision has been prompted by the desire of U.S. companies to sell face-recognition software and hardware to China as anti-terrorism measures in advance of the Olympics in Beijing.

E. Richard Mills, speaking for BIS, said it was unclear whether the regulations would have the overall effect of tightening or loosening export controls. He noted that BIS’s review of the relevant export regulations reflected a general effort at the agency to make sure that all export controls were up to date. Finally he noted that the agency would take into account availability of similar crime control products from non-U.S. sources.

As aficionados of crime control items will no doubt already know, the Commodity Control List includes under the crime control category, and regulates the export of, such whimsical items as straight-jackets, thumbscrews, thumb-cuffs, cattle prods and mind-reading, er, polygraph devices. Needless to say all such items are readily available from many sources outside the United States, leading one to wonder whether perhaps they will be dropped from the CCL in this round of revisions.

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