The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls homepage’s Defense Trade Application Systems (DTAS) information system will be unavailable to industry users from 6 p.m. Aug. 11 to 6 p.m. Aug. 13 EDT for routine maintenance, DDTC said.
The State Department Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) will close at noon on Aug. 3, for an off-site business meeting, DDTC announced on its website. The agency won’t respond to phone or email inquiries during that time. Electronic submission transfers and the 3 p.m. paper license pick-up/drop-off will take place during their normal schedule. Normal operations will resume on Aug. 4, DDTC said.
The State Department is accepting comments through Aug. 1 on regulations, guidance and information collections that stakeholders believe should be removed or modified to “alleviate unnecessary burdens,” following President Donald Trump’s Feb. 24 executive order (here) directing agencies to identify and relieve burdensome regulations, State said (here). State noted that one of the duties of its Regulatory Reform Task Force, consisting of senior officials from State’s bureaus of Administration, Consular Affairs, Educational and Cultural Affairs, and Political-Military Affairs, is to evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations to the secretary of state for their repeal, replacement or modification. State noted that the Feb. 24 executive order directs the task force to identify regulations that eliminate jobs or inhibit job creation; are outdated, unnecessary or ineffective; and that impose costs that exceed benefits.
The State Department added Mohammad Yusuf Shah (here) to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, State said. "Global Terrorist" designations include prohibitions against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to, or engaging in transactions with, the individuals. The designations also freeze all property and interests of the individuals in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. citizens.
The Americas Business Dialogue agreed to establish a working group to improve transparency in customs and trade procedures, among other things, in Northern Triangle countries, the State Department said (here). The region includes Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. During the Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America in Miami June 15-16, Northern Triangle governments agreed to continue to work to strengthen customs and other trade procedures, improve the flow of commercial traffic at border crossings, reduce the time and cost of trade, and boost overall economic competitiveness of their countries, State said. The governments committed to streamline “import and export systems and procedures employed by government agencies.”
The State Department added Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (here), Marwan Ibrahim Hussayn Tah al-Azawi (here), Mohammad Shafi Armar (here), Mohammed Isa Yousif Saqar Al Binali (here) and Oussama Ahmad Atar (here) to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, State said. "Global Terrorist" designations include prohibitions against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to, or engaging in transactions with, the individuals. The designations also freeze all property and interests of the individuals in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. citizens.
The State Department received a request from Libya on May 30 under a UNESCO agreement to restrict U.S. imports of archaeological and/or ethnological materials representing Libya’s “cultural patrimony” from the prehistoric through the Ottoman Era, State said (here). Libya filed the request under Article 9 of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. A summary of Libya’s request can be found (here).
The State Department revoked the designation of the Abu Nidal Organization as a foreign terrorist organization, it said (here). State is also removing the group from its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, State said (here). "Global Terrorist" designations include prohibitions against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to, or engaging in transactions with, the individuals. The designations also freeze all property and interests of the individuals in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. citizens.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls homepage’s Defense Trade Application Systems (DTAS) information system will be unavailable to industry users from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT May 25 for routine maintenance, DDTC said (here).
The State Department added Hashem Safieddine and Muhammad al-Isawi to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, State said (here). "Global Terrorist" designations include prohibitions against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to, or engaging in transactions with, the individuals. The designations also freeze all property and interests of the individuals in the U.S. or in the control of U.S. citizens.