The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution May 19 urging the United Nations to impose an arms embargo against the Myanmar military. The resolution calls on the UN to “prevent the continued acquisition of arms and military equipment and the proliferation of weapons throughout the country,” and to hold Myanmar officials accountable for human rights violations. The U.S. has placed sanctions and other restrictions on the Myanmar military for its overthrow of the country’s government (see 2105170015 and 2104080026).

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Myanmar Gems Enterprise to its sanctions list, a May 17 financial sanctions notice said. The sanctions are related to Myanmar's February military coup and subsequent crackdown on protesters. OFSI believes that MGE is controlled by Myanmar's State Administration Council, which oversees the governance of ministries and actively undermines democracy in the Southeast Asian nation, the listing said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for May 10-14 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 16 people and one entity connected to Myanmar’s military, which is committing human rights violations after overthrowing the country’s government earlier this year, the agency said May 17. The designations target 13 “key members” of the Myanmar military, three adult children of previously designated military officials and the State Administration Council (SAC), which was created by the military to support its overthrow of the government.

The European Council announced that a group of third countries aligned with the bloc's sanctions regime on ISIL and al-Qaida and with the February sanctions on Myanmar due to the recent military coup in that country. In May 11 and May 12 news releases, the EU said North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine and Moldova aligned themselves with the Myanmar sanctions. It said the same group, minus Norway and with the additions of Armenia and Georgia, also levied sanctions against ISIL and al-Qaida and the persons, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them.

The European Commission published guidance May 11 for individual and business compliance with recent sanctions on Myanmar put in place due to the February military coup and subsequent protest crackdown. The sanctions are composed of financial sanctions, a travel ban and limited sectoral sanctions that include an embargo on exports of arms equipment that may be used for internal repression, dual-use goods for use by the military and Border Guard Police in Myanmar, and equipment for monitoring communications. The guidance details who must comply with the provisions, what the terms of the provisions stipulate, how to determine ownership of sanctioned activity and exceptions to the sanctions.

Myanmar's military has built an economy largely centered around a limited number of institutions created by its Defense Ministry, cementing the military's role at the center of the Southeast Asian state's economic dealings. A new report from Bloomberg takes a look at how the military class skirted Western sanctions. Driving the military's continued hold on the economy are two Defense Ministry-founded and -operated conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Co. Ltd. and Myanmar Economic Corp. The two companies employ thousands of civilian and military personnel, control various domestic industries and offer a variety of essential goods for the citizenry, Bloomberg reported. According to analysts, this structure means the wave of sanctions relating to the military takeover of the country in February have a minimal effect.

U.S. exporters and forwarders are still unsure how much due diligence is enough to comply with the Commerce’s Department’s recently expanded end-user and end-use restrictions, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America officials said. Although the Bureau of Industry and Security issued some guidance last year, the guidance didn't address all industry questions and was made more complicated by another set of restrictions that took effect this year, the officials said.

Forwarders are seeing a rise in maximum penalties issued by CBP for violations surrounding ocean shipments that occurred over a year ago, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America officials said. Joe Brogan, the chair of NCBFAA’s export compliance subcommittee, said CBP officers are increasingly digging up old violations where forwarders submitted incorrect transportation-related information, such as the date of export or the port of export, and have levied penalties higher than $14,000 for a “single occurrence.”

The United Kingdom published guidance April 29 ro assist individuals and businesses with complying with the Myanmar sanctions regime. The document includes best practice for complying with the asset freeze and travel ban, enforcing the prohibitions and circumstances in which the sanctions don't apply.