The Department of Defense¹ has issued a final rule, effective November 2, 2011, that amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to revise the definitions of “Caribbean Basin country” and “designated country” due to the October 2010 change in status of the islands that comprised the Netherlands Antilles.

The Office of Management and Budget has approved the State Department's proposed rule entitled: "International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Implementing the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty Between the United States and Australia and the Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty Between the US and UK."

The Office of Management and Budget has approved the State Department's final rule entitled "International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Sudan."

The Office of Management and Budget has approved a State Department proposed rule entitled: "International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Revision of U.S. Munitions List Category VIII and Addition of Definition for "Specially Designed."

The Bureau of Industry and Security states that four companies agreed to pay a total of $72,000 in civil penalties to settle allegations that each violated the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The companies are ChemGuard Inc, Bank of New York Mellon (Shanghai Branch), World Kitchen LLC, and Tollgrade Communications Inc.

On October 27, 2011, the Office of Foreign Assets Control made a number of changes to its "Specially Designated Nationals" List. SDNs are (i) individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries or (ii) individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific. The assets of listed SDNs are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.

On October 28, 2011, the White House issued a memorandum to heads of executive agencies and departments directing them to create within 90 days a centralized, one-stop shop website called "BusinessUSA" for information regarding federal programs and services relevant to businesses of all sizes that want to begin or increase exporting.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned a key Sinaloa Cartel lieutenant, Martin Guadencio Avendano Ojeda, his two brothers, Hector Manuel and Sergio Avendano Ojeda, and two companies, Autos Mini, a car dealership in Ensenada, Baja California owned by Martin Guadencio Avendano Ojeda, and Autodromo Culiacan, an auto race track located in Culiacan, Sinaloa owned by Martin and his brother Hector Manuel Avendano. As a result of these designations, U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the designees and any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.

The Bureau of Industry and Security announced that it will add fifteen parties located in China, Hong Kong, Iran and Singapore to the Entity List. The parties added to the Entity List have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. The added persons include the following eight: Corezing International, Hia Soo Gan Benson, Hossein Ahmad Larijani, Lim Kow Seng, Lim Yong Nam, NEL Electronics Pte Ltd, Paya Electronic Complex, and Wong Yuh Lan. The remaining seven parties are: Action Global, Amaze International, Luo Jie, OEM Hub Co Ltd., Parto System Tehran, Surftech Electronics, and Zhou Zhenyong.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has sent a final rule to the Office of Management and Budget entitled: "Export and Reexport License Requirements for Certain Microwave and Millimeter Wave Electronic Components."