On July 31,2024,the Ministry of Commerce,in conjunction with the General Administration of Customs and the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission,issued Announcement No.31 of 2024,"Announcement on Optimizing and Adjusting Drone Export Control Measures",which will come into effect on September 1,2024,and at the same time repeal Announcements No.27 and No.28 of 2023.The following are the detailed provisions and rule analysis of this announcement.

I.Repeal of Temporary Control,Benefiting the Export of Consumer - grade Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The announcement repealed Announcement No.28 of 2023,which means that starting from September 1,2024,the export of temporary control products mentioned in Announcement No.28 of 2023 will be allowed,which is very beneficial for the export of consumer-grade drone products.However,the new announcement still clearly stipulates that if the export operator knows or should know that the export will be used for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,terrorist activities,or military purposes,the export shall not be allowed.

To facilitate customs document review,when enterprises export relevant products originally under temporary control,it is recommended to provide a stamped statement of purpose and upload it to the attached documents.The following are the HS codes of the products allowed to be exported:

• 8806100010
• 8806221011
• 8806229010
• 8806231011
• 8806239010
• 8806241011
• 8806249010
• 8806291011
• 8806299010
• 8806921011
• 8806929010
• 8806931011
• 8806939010
• 8806941011
• 8806949010
• 8806990010

II.Relaxation of the Product Control Scope

Infrared imaging equipment

• 2024No.31Announcement:Exportcontrolisrequiredonlywhenallofthefollowingcharacteristicsaremet(RefertoCustomscommoditycodes:8525891110,8525892110,8525893110).
  • Thewavelengthrangeisbetween780nanometers(nm)and30000nanometers(nm);
  • TheInstantaneousFieldofView(IFOV)islessthan2.5milliradians(mrad).
• Announcement No.27,2023: Export control is required if any of the above characteristics is present.

Lasers for target indication

• 2024No.31Announcement:Exportcontrolisrequiredonlywhenallofthefollowingcharacteristicsaremet(RefertoCustomscommoditycode:9013200093).
  • Itcanoperatestablyinanenvironmentabove55degreesCelsius(℃);
  • Itistemperature-control-freetype;
  • Theenergyisgreaterthan80millijoules(mJ);
  • Thestabilityisbetterthan15%;
  • Thebeamdivergenceangleislessthan0.3milliradians(mrad).
• Announcement No.27,2023: Export control is required if any of the above characteristics is present.

III.Newly Added Export - controlled Products

The Notice No.31 of 2024 adds export control measures for the following inertial measurement equipment (refer to the Customs commodity code: 9014209014; currently,this Customs commodity code is not available in the Single Window system,and it will be added to the Harmonized System (HS) in the future):

• Theheadingaccuracyislessthan2degrees(°);
• Theattitudeaccuracyislessthan0.5degrees(°);
• Theresolutionislessthan0.1degrees(°).

IV.Changes in the Joint Issuing Units

Compared with Announcements No.27 and No.28 of 2023,the joint issuers of Announcement No.31 of 2024 this time do not include the "National Defense Science and Technology Industry Bureau".

Analysis and Interpretation of the Announcement

This announcement has optimized and adjusted the export control measures for unmanned aerial vehicles,mainly reflecting the following changes and significance:

• Abolitionoftemporarycontrol:Itisextremelybeneficialtotheexportofconsumer-gradeunmannedaerialvehicles.Therestrictionsonlow-riskproductshavebeenlifted,whichhelpstoexpandthemarketshare.
• Relaxationofcontrolscope:Thecontrolconditionsforinfraredimagingequipmentandlasersfortargetindicationaremorestringent.Theywillbecontrolledonlywhenmultipleconditionsaremetsimultaneously,reducingthecomplianceburdenonenterprises.
• Additionofcontrolledproducts:Thecontrolofhigh-precisioninertialmeasurementequipmenthasbeenclarifiedtoensurethatsensitivetechnologiesarenotmisused.
• Changeinissuingunits:Thenumberofco-issuingunitshasbeenreduced,simplifyingthemanagementprocess,whichmayreflecttheoptimizationofcontrolmeasuresandtheadjustmentofdivisionofresponsibilities.

Overall,while relaxing and optimizing the control measures,this announcement still maintains strict supervision over high - risk products,balancing the needs of trade facilitation and national security.When exporting unmanned aerial vehicles,enterprises should carefully read and comply with the provisions of the new announcement to ensure compliant operation.