[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 26 (Monday, February 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6948-6949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02681]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Industry and Security

[Docket No. 150127079-5079-01]


Foreign Availability Determination: Anisotropic Plasma Dry 
Etching Equipment

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Foreign Availability Determination.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Under Secretary for Industry 
and

[[Page 6949]]

Security has determined that foreign availability exists for 
anisotropic plasma dry etching equipment controlled for national 
security reasons under Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 
3B001.c on the Commerce Control List. This foreign availability 
determination is in response to a submission from the Semiconductor 
Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) industry association. The 
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has provided a proposal to the 
Department of State to submit to the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export 
Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies to 
remove the 3.B.1.c control from the Arrangement's Dual-Use List. This 
determination was made pursuant to Section 5(f) of the Export 
Administration Act of 1979, as amended, and Part 768 of the EAR.

ADDRESSES: BIS welcomes comments on this foreign availability 
determination on an ongoing basis. You may submit comments by any of 
the following methods:
     Email: [email protected]. Include the phrase 
``Anisotropic Plasma Dry Etching Equipment Determination'' in the 
subject line;
     Mail: Orestes Theocharides, Office of Technology 
Evaluation, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, Room 1093, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20230; or
     Fax to (202) 482-5361. Include the phrase ``Anisotropic 
Plasma Dry Etching Equipment Determination'' in the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerard J. Horner, Office of Technology 
Evaluation, Department of Commerce, Room 1093, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230, Telephone: (202) 482-2078; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 5(f) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended 
(EAA), authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to conduct foreign 
availability assessments to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of 
U.S. export controls on certain items that are controlled for national 
security reasons under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) (15 
CFR parts 730-774). The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has been 
delegated from the Secretary of Commerce the responsibility for 
conducting these assessments and issuing a final foreign availability 
determination. Part 768 of the EAR sets forth the procedures related to 
foreign availability assessments.
    On July 16, 2014, BIS received a foreign availability submission 
from the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) 
industry association, a group of companies that does business all over 
the world and that serve the manufacturing supply chain for the micro- 
and nano-electronics industries. SEMI's July 16, 2014 submission 
asserts the foreign availability of anisotropic plasma dry etching 
equipment in China. This type of semiconductor etching equipment is 
controlled for national security reasons under Export Control 
Classification Number (ECCN) 3B001.c on the Commerce Control List 
(CCL). It is used in the process for producing dual-use semiconductor 
devices such as flash memories, microwave monolithic integrated 
circuits, transistors, and analog-to-digital-converters. These devices 
are used in civil and military applications such as radars, point-to-
point radio communications, microprocessors, cellular infrastructure, 
and satellite communications. The national security control BIS has 
applied to anisotropic plasma dry etching equipment implements the 
Wassenaar Arrangement's Dual-Use List 3.B.1.c control. SEMI's 
submission asserts that anisotropic plasma dry etch equipment of 
comparable quality to that subject to control under ECCN 3B001.c is 
available-in-fact from China in sufficient quantities to render the 
U.S. export control of the equipment ineffective.
    After reviewing SEMI's submission, on September 8, 2014, BIS 
published in the Federal Register a Notice of Foreign Availability 
Assessment: Anisotropic Plasma Dry Etching Equipment (79 FR 53166), 
which formally initiated a foreign availability assessment. To carry 
out the assessment, BIS conducted interagency meetings with 
stakeholders, obtained input from the exporting community, and visited, 
in China, a producer of anisotropic plasma dry etching equipment 
meeting the 3B001.c control parameters, and a foundry using a Chinese-
produced anisotropic plasma dry etching tool. As a result of BIS's 
analysis of the data collected through the assessment, BIS recommended 
that I determine that the etching equipment of ECCN 3B001.c capability 
is available-in-fact to China, from a non-U.S. (Chinese) source, in 
sufficient quantity, and of comparable quality so that continuation of 
the existing national security export control would be ineffective in 
achieving its purpose.
    After reviewing the assessment and recommendation, I determined 
that anisotropic plasma dry etching equipment controlled for national 
security reasons under ECCN 3B001.c on the CCL is foreign available to 
China. Consequently, BIS has submitted a proposal to the Department of 
State to remove the Wassenaar Arrangement's Dual-Use List 3.B.1.c 
control.

    Dated: February 4, 2015.
Eric L. Hirschhorn,
Under Secretary of Industry and Security.
[FR Doc. 2015-02681 Filed 2-6-15; 8:45 am]
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