In a final rule scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on September 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) formally implemented sweeping changes to the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) as they pertain to the Syrian Arab Republic. The action follows Executive Order 14312, Providing for the Revocation of Syria Sanctions, issued on June 30, 2025, in which the President determined that it was in the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States to revoke long-standing sanctions and restrictive controls on Syria. BIS’s regulatory amendments mark the most significant rollback of Syria-related export restrictions since the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, and are designed to align the EAR with the Administration’s broader effort to support stabilization and economic reconstruction in Syria.
Historically, BIS maintained one of the most restrictive licensing policies applicable to any jurisdiction with respect to Syria. Pursuant to statutory mandates under the Syria Accountability Act and subsequent Executive Orders, BIS imposed a general policy of denial for nearly all items subject to the EAR, excluding only food and medicine classified as EAR99. Over the years, certain limited waivers permitted case-by-case licensing of specific categories of items in support of the Syrian people, particularly during the civil conflict that escalated after 2011. Syria was also subject to additional restrictions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 after the State Department determined that the Assad government had used chemical weapons in violation of international law. Collectively, these measures erected an expansive barrier to U.S. exports and reexports to Syria, extending across virtually all categories of the Commerce Control List (“CCL”).
The June 30, 2025 Executive Order effectively lifted those barriers by waiving the relevant provisions of the Syria Accountability Act and the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act. In conformity with that directive, BIS has eliminated General Order No. 2—first added to the EAR in 2004—as obsolete, and has significantly revised § 746.9 to reflect the new licensing posture. Under the revised framework, BIS has introduced an array of license exceptions newly available for Syria, including a dedicated License Exception “Syria Peace and Prosperity” (“SPP”) codified at § 740.5. This exception authorizes the export and reexport of all EAR99 items, subject to the standard restrictions of part 744, and represents a categorical departure from prior limitations which had prohibited such shipments absent specific licensing.
In addition to SPP, BIS has expanded the availability of several existing license exceptions for Syria. These include the incorporation of Syria into the scope of License Exception Consumer Communications Devices (“CCD”) at § 740.19, as well as adjustments to License Exception AVS (Aircraft, Vessels, and Spacecraft) to permit certain EAR99 and anti-terrorism-only controlled spare parts and equipment. Further, BIS has broadened the application of License Exception TMP (Temporary Imports, Exports, Reexports, and Transfers), RPL (Servicing and Replacement of Parts and Equipment), GOV (Government, International Organizations, and Inspections), TSU (Technology and Software—Unrestricted), and BAG (Baggage). Collectively, these expansions materially increase the categories of items that may be lawfully exported or reexported to Syria without the need for individual license review, though all remain subject to part 744’s end-use and end-user controls.
BIS has also revised the licensing policy applicable to Syria to reflect a far more permissive stance. Specifically, applications for exports and reexports of CCL items intended to support commercial end uses that contribute to economic and business development in Syria—or that otherwise support the Syrian people—will now be reviewed under a presumption of approval. Covered activities include improvements to telecommunications infrastructure, water and sanitation services, power generation, civil aviation, and other essential civil services. Applications falling outside of these categories will no longer be subject to a policy of denial but will instead be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to assess their consistency with U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. BIS emphasized that transactions which could significantly enhance Syria’s military potential or its ability to support acts of international terrorism will continue to trigger statutory notification requirements to Congress.
Finally, the rule makes several conforming amendments to remove outdated statutory references and streamline the regulatory text. References to the Syria Accountability Act have been deleted from § 746.1, General Order No. 2 has been excised in its entirety, and redundant provisions concerning the scope of items not subject to the EAR have been eliminated. BIS estimates that the expansion of license exceptions will reduce the agency’s annual license application caseload by more than four hundred submissions, lowering compliance burdens while encouraging exporters and reexporters who had previously avoided the Syrian market under the restrictive framework. The rule was issued pursuant to BIS’s authorities under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, and was designated a “significant regulatory action” under Executive Order 12866.
Taken together, these measures represent a wholesale recalibration of the EAR’s treatment of Syria, substituting a broad presumption of approval and wide availability of license exceptions in place of decades of categorical prohibition. Although certain restrictions remain in force—including controls tied to Syria’s continued designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and residual sanctions against Bashar al-Assad, ISIS, and other destabilizing actors—the final rule marks a decisive shift in U.S. export control policy toward Syria. BIS’s amendments thus carry far-reaching implications for U.S. industry participants contemplating reentry into the Syrian market, while simultaneously advancing the current Administration’s policy objective of fostering stability, peace, and economic recovery in the country.
