The Office of Foreign Assets Control is amending its regulations on trade in rough diamonds to update requirements for Kimberly Process Certificates. OFAC’s final rule incorporates recent changes to Census Bureau requirements for submission of Kimberly Process Certificates for imports and exports of rough diamonds (see 1804230045), and also clarifies which entity may issue Kimberly Process Certificates for rough diamond exports. OFAC is also adding definitions for rough diamond packaging requirements and voided certificates, and making “certain technical and conforming changes” to penalty provisions. The final rule takes effect June 19, 2018.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau will not approve formulas or labels for alcoholic beverages that contain controlled substances, including forms of hemp, it recently said on its website. The Controlled Substances Act defines marijuana as all parts of the cannabis plant, as well as substances derived from the plant, with certain specific exclusions, TTB said. Hemp seed oil, sterilized hemp seeds and non-resinous, mature hemp stalks are exempt. Formulas for alcoholic beverages containing hemp must be approved by TTB, and product labels must “accurately and specifically identify the ingredient in a manner that makes it clear that the ingredient is not a controlled substance (e.g., ‘hemp seed oil’ rather than ‘hemp oil’),” the agency said. “Additionally, labeling statements for alcohol beverage products may not create the misleading impression that the product contains a controlled substance or has effects similar to those of a controlled substance.”
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is expanding and extending an alternate tax calculation procedure allowing more wine to qualify for expanded excise tax credits under recent tax reform legislation, it said in an industry circular dated May 17. TTB will until Dec. 31 allow producing wineries to pay taxes on wine physically stored at a bonded wine cellar or bonded winery, and not on the producing winery’s bonded premises, as if the wine were located at the producing winery’s bonded premises. That allows the wine to benefit from the tax credits without having to physically transport it back to the producing winery’s bonded premises, as would otherwise be required because the new tax law’s credits are not transferrable, TTB said. TTB had earlier announced a similar policy that applied only to bonded wine cellars and was set to run until June 30. The agency is extending the policy until Dec. 31 and also allowing wine at other bonded wineries to qualify. Under the tax reform legislation, tax credits formerly applicable only to small wineries were expanded by removing an eligibility cap on wine production (see 1711170012).
The Treasury Department is issuing a current list of countries that require or may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott. The list includes Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, unchanged from the previous iteration of the list (see 1801050015)
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued the "the largest North Korea-related sanctions tranche to date," the Treasury Department said in a Feb. 23 news release. The sanctions are "aimed at disrupting North Korean shipping and trading companies and vessels to further isolate the regime and advance the U.S. maximum pressure campaign," it said. The action "targets one individual, 27 entities, and 28 vessels located, registered, or flagged in North Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Marshall Islands, Tanzania, Panama, and Comoros. " Concurrently, Treasury, the State Department and the U.S. Coast Guard issued an advisory "alerting the public to the significant sanctions risks to those continuing to enable shipments of goods to and from North Korea," the release said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Congolese men Feb. 5, freezing their U.S. assets and adding them to the Specially Designated Nationals List. The action came a few days after the United Nations Security Council sanctioned them -- militia leaders Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga, Guidon Shimiray Mwissa, Lucien Nzabamwita and Brigadier General Muhindo Akili Mundos. The Treasury Department said all four are responsible for human rights violations and prolonging the country's civil war.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added four individuals and four entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list under transnational criminal organization designations, and another 21 individuals and 21 entities under Ukraine sanctions designations, including 12 entities subject to sectoral sanctions, OFAC said in two notices.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added six individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under terrorism sanctions designations, OFAC said in a notice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 24 added a bevy of new people, companies and ships to the Specially Designated Nationals List for trading with North Korea and aiding its weapons of mass destruction and other illicit programs, the Treasury Department said in a press release. The newly listed companies include a North Korean defense contractor and a number of North Korean shipping companies and vessels. Also among the additions were two Chinese trading companies -- Beijing Chengxing Trading Co., Ltd. and China Dandong Kumsang Trade Co., Ltd. -- each of which purportedly conducted trade with North Korea defense companies, OFAC said. China Dandong Kumsang also goes by the names Dandong Jinxiang Trade Co., Ltd.; Dandong Metal Company; and Jinxiang Trading Company, according to a listing of recent additions to the SDN list.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed one individual from its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, and updated one existing individual, under narcotics kingpin designations, OFAC said.