The Office of Foreign Assets Control added one individual to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under counterterrorism designations, OFAC said (here).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control added two individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under counterterrorism designations, OFAC said (here).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed nine individuals from the list of Specially Designated Nationals, in line with President Barack Obama's executive order (here) to terminate the national emergency designation for the Ivory Coast, OFAC said (here).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control and PanAmerican Seed Company entered into a $4.3 million civil settlement, after OFAC alleged the firm violated the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations by indirectly exporting flower and other seeds 48 times to two Iranian distributors from May 2009 to March 2012, the agency said (here). PanAm Seed didn’t voluntarily disclose the alleged violations, which specifically involved seed shipments to consignees based in two third-countries in Europe or the Middle East, as well as arrangements made by PanAm customers for re-exportation of the seeds to Iran, the agency said. OFAC deemed the case to be egregious. High- and mid-level personnel of PanAm Seed and/or its parent company Ball Horticultural were aware of U.S. sanctions applying to Iran and the requirement to get a specific OFAC license to export the seeds, OFAC said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control entered into a $43,200 settlement with World Class Technology (WCT) Corporation for its alleged exportation of seven shipments of orthodontic devices, valued at a combined $59,886, from the U.S. with the intent for them to eventually reach Iran, OFAC said (here). WCT shipped the goods to Germany, the United Arab Emirates, “and/or” Lebanon, with the “knowledge or reason to know” the shipments were intended to be supplied, transshipped or re-exported to Iran, in apparent violation of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, OFAC said.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is reopening the period for comments (here) on its proposal to amend its labeling and record-keeping regulations to tighten requirements for certain grape wines exempt from labeling approval. Under the agency’s June 22 proposed rule (see 1606220010), grape wines with an alcohol content higher than 7 percent but exempt from labeling approval would still have to comply with TTB standards for labeling of varietal (grape type) designations, type designations of varietal significance, vintage dates and appellations of origin. Comments are now due Dec. 7.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control added several individuals and entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under Russian/Ukrainian designations, and has added several entities to its sectoral sanctions identifications list, OFAC said (here). The agency also made a change to an entity designation on its SDN list, it said.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is amending its regulations on denatured alcohol and products made using industrial alcohol (here). The agency’s final rule eliminates “outdated” specially denatured spirits formulas from the regulations, reclassifies some specially denatured spirits formulas as completely denatured alcohol formulas, and adds new general-use formulas for manufacturing products with specially denatured spirits. Unlike other spirits, denatured alcohol, or spirits with additives that make them unfit for human consumption, isn’t subject to excise taxes. TTB regulates specially denatured alcohol more heavily than completely denatured alcohol because specially denatured alcohol tastes better and is more easily turned into potable alcohol. The final rule takes effect Oct. 31.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control added two individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals list, under Central African Republic designations, OFAC said (here).

The Internal Revenue Service issued a final rule (here) on Aug. 18 outlining exemptions and procedures for collecting a 2 percent tax on payments made by the U.S. government for foreign procurement purchases. The tax, mandated by a law passed in 2011, applies to payments from the U.S. government to foreign parties where the goods are manufactured or produced or the services are provided in any country that is not a party to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement or a free trade agreement with the U.S. that includes procurement provisions, the IRS said. Other countries have income tax treaties with the U.S. that exempt them from the tax, and humanitarian assistance is exempt as well, among other types of contracts.