The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has added the following entities to its Specially Designated Nationals list. All are located in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and have been added to the list under the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations.

A Houston, Texas company agreed to pay $139,650 to settle potential civil liability for alleged violations of Cuban and Iranian transaction restrictions, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said March 5. EGL, Inc., now part of the CEVA Logistics group of companies, allegedly violated the Cuban Assets Control Regulations from April 2005-Dec. 2008, according to an OFAC notice. EGL’s foreign affiliates provided freight forwarding services with respect to shipments to and from Cuba, in 280 different transactions, the notice said. The alleged violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations occurred from around Aug.-Oct. 2008, when EGL affiliates acted as the freight forwarder of 10 shipments of oil rigs to the oil drilling rig Aban VIII, the notice said. That rig is located in Iranian waters and is operated by Petropars, an affiliated company of the National Iranian Oil Company, according to OFAC.

The following name was added to OFAC's SDN list on Feb. 22:

The Bank of Guam and a California scrap metal company agreed to civil liability payments for violations of Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, the office said Feb. 22.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau finalized its addition of Cachaça standard of identity, following negotiations that will also result in the Brazilian government recognizing standards for Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey. The final rule is effective April 11, but a grace period until about Aug. 24 will be allowed for some spirits with noncompliant labeling.

American Optisurgical, Inc., of Lake Forest, Calif., agreed to pay $404,100 to settle potential civil liability for alleged violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations from 2005 to 2010, said the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. It said AOI violated the ITSR on 36 occasions when it exported, or attempted to export, unlicensed medical goods and services to Iran, or to a person in a third country who knew or should have known that the medical goods and services were intended for Iran. OFAC also alleged that AOI violated the RPPR when it failed to fully respond to two Administrative Subpoenas issued to AOI by OFAC. The alleged violations involved transactions valued at $202,765, OFAC said. It said AOI didn't voluntarily self-disclose the matter to OFAC, but the alleged violations constituted a non-egregious case. It said AOI's alleged violations resulted from willful or reckless conduct; AOI's senior management was directly involved in the willful or reckless conduct; AOI actively participated in concealing the ultimate destination of its exports to Iran; AOI continued to export unlicensed medical goods to Iran even after having received two Administrative Subpoenas from OFAC regarding its conduct; AOI is a commercially sophisticated entity; AOI has not been the subject of prior OFAC enforcement action; the exports at issue likely would have been licensed by OFAC under existing licensing policy; and, AOI agreed to toll the statute of limitations.

The following individual has been added to OFAC's SDN List:

The following individuals have been added to OFAC's SDN List:

The Treasury Department published a current List of Countries Requiring Cooperation with an International Boycott, in a notice scheduled for the Feb. 14 Federal Register. Its list includes Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control will migrate its Specially Designated Nationals List data (and other sanctions-related information) that it maintains on its OFACFTP.TREAS.GOV server to a new location about Feb. 22, it said. As a result, the IP address for that content will change.