The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued General License No. 5a under the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR 544), Iranian Transactions Regulations (31 CFR 560), and Executive Order 13599 on "Blocking Property of the Government of Iran and Iranian Financial Institutions," to authorize certain transactions related to the arrest in Mundra, India, detention, and judicial sale of the MV Dianthe, a vessel on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. Such transactions include, but are not limited to: (i) bidding on the purchase of the vessels; (ii) paying deposits; (iii) providing financing, insurance, or funding in connection with the purchase; (iv) repairing or modifying the Vessel for commercial use; etc. This authorization expires on November 30, 2012.
Brian Feito
Brian Feito is Managing Editor of International Trade Today, Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. A licensed customs broker who spent time at the Department of Commerce calculating antidumping and countervailing duties, Brian covers a wide range of subjects including customs and trade-facing product regulation, the courts, antidumping and countervailing duties and Mexico and the European Union. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and George Mason University. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2012.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a final rule, effective February 27, 2012, amending its export and import regulations (10 CFR Part 110) by removing Oman from the list of restricted destinations. This action was recommended by the Executive Branch in light of current foreign policy and nonproliferation-related actions taken and policies pursued by the Government of Oman. This means that exports of certain nuclear and byproduct materials to Oman may qualify for the NRC general license. At present, Oman has no nuclear research or power program; however, it does have the need for radioactive sources for legitimate industrial, medical, and research purposes in support of economic development projects. NRC states that exports of radioactive sources from the U.S. for such purposes would be facilitated by removal of Oman from the restricted destinations list.
The International Trade Administration has initiated an administrative reviews for certain firms subject to antidumping or countervailing duty orders with January anniversary dates. The ITA intends to issue the final results of these reviews not later than January 31, 2013.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective February 22, 2012, updating the Code of Federal Regulations legal authority citations for the Export Administration Regulations to replace citations to the President’s Notice of January 13, 2011 (Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Terrorists Who Threaten to Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process) with citations to the President’s Notice of January 19, 2012 continuation (of the same name), and add citations to the President’s Notice of September 21, 2011 (Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism).
On February 23, 2012, the President sent a letter to Congress announcing that the national emergency declared with respect to Cuba and the emergency authority relating to the regulation of the anchorage and movement of vessels set out in Proclamation 6867 as amended by Proclamation 7757, is to continue in effect beyond March 1, 2012.
In remarks at the Global Food Safety Conference in Orlando, FL on February 16, 2012, Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael R. Taylor stated that the FDA will soon be publishing several proposed rules to implement parts of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The five highest priority rules will relate to third-party certification, foreign supplier verification, preventative controls at human food and animal feed production facilities, and produce safety. Taylor stated that the FDA hopes to publish the third-party certification proposed rule in March.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective February 24, 2012, which amends Supplement No. 7 to Part 748 of the Export Administration Regulations to revise the existing Authorization Validated End-User listings for GE India Industrial Pvt Ltd.; Applied Materials (China), Inc.; Boeing Tianjin Composites Co. Ltd.; CSMC Technologies Corporation; Lam Research Corporation; and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.
The Small Business Administration published a final rule, effective March 26, 2012, increasing the small business size receipts-based standards for 22 industries in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Sector 48-49, Transportation and Warehousing, while retaining the current standards for the remaining 37 industries in that sector. The final rule is part of SBA’s ongoing comprehensive review of all size standards required by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, Executive Order 13563, and an internal review process started by SBA in 2007. SBA did not review the employee-based standards for industries in NAICS Sector 48-49, but will do so at a later date with other employee-based size standards.
The International Trade Commission has rescheduled the public hearing in its investigation of trade in remanufactured goods (332-525). The hearing will now begin at 9:00 am on February 28, 2012 at the ITC building.
The Bureau of Industry and Security states that it has renewed for 180 days its Temporary Denial Order against Mahan Airways of Iran, Zarand Aviation, Gatewick LLC, Pejman Mahmood Kosarayanifard, Mahmoud Amini, Kerman Aviation, Sirjanco Trading, Ali Eslamian, and related parties.