The U.S. Department of Agriculture postponed its June 8-11 trade mission to Spain and Portugal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said in an April 6 email to industry. The USDA did not provide a new date for the mission. The USDA had planned seven export trade missions this year (see 1912060027).

President Donald Trump’s decision to invoke the Defense Production Act for supplies of ventilators and N95 face masks (see 2004030063) will not disrupt U.S. exports that are “consistent” with U.S. national interest, the White House said in an April 3 statement. “Nothing in this order will interfere with the ability of [personal protective equipment] manufacturers to export when doing so is consistent with United States policy and in the national interest of the United States,” the White House said. The order is meant to target price gougers “with the ability to unscrupulously divert PPE inventories from domestic customers,” the statement said. “Today’s order is another step in our ongoing fight to prevent hoarding, price gouging, and profiteering by preventing the harmful export of critically needed PPE.”

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed sanctions from an entry on the ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions list, according to an April 6 notice. An asset freeze will no longer apply to Ibrahim Mohamed Khalil.

The European Union updated its sanctions regime against Yemen, according to an April 3 notice. The update clarifies what constitutes a sanctionable act and provides details relating to humanitarian exemptions.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added three Russian nationals and one Russian entity to its Specially Designated Nationals List, OFAC said in an April 6 notice. The sanctions target Denis Valiullovich Gariyev, Nikolay Nikolayevich Trushchalov, Stanislav Anatolyevich Vorobyev and the Russian Imperial Movement. OFAC did not immediately release more information on the designations.

Another United Nations official called for global sanctions to be lifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying sanctions are impacting health care systems, according to an April 3 press release. Sanctions should be removed until the virus has subsided, said Alena Douhan, a UN human rights official, adding that countries should “immediately” withdraw all trade barriers and ban tariffs, quotas and non-tariff measures. "Sanctioned countries are especially hard-hit as they cannot use their revenues to purchase imports of equipment, medicines, antiviral and food from global markets," she said. Other UN officials have issued similar statements (see 2004030020 and 2003250010).

India announced restrictions on exports of certain “diagnostic kits,” according to an April 4 notice from the country’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade. The export restrictions apply to certain “diagnostic or laboratory reagents.” The measure took effect April 4. India previously restricted exports of hydroxychloroquine, ventilators and sanitizers due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2003250014 and 2003240045).

CBP removed several exemptions from the Automated Export System Trade Interface Requirements due to the recent transfer of gun export controls from the State Department to the Commerce Department (see 2001170030), CBP said in an April 6 CSMS message. The update removes firearms exemptions related to certain exports to Canada, temporary exports and more.

The Federal Aviation Administration does not independently vet civil aircraft registrations, which could lead to a host of sanctions related risks, according to a March report from the Government Accountability Office. In at least one case, the FAA allowed a sanctioned Venezuelan drug trafficker to obtain a dealer certificate, which gave his front company access to blocked planes for more than a year, the GAO said. FAA officials said they do not have the required authorities to address sanctions issues, but the GAO pointed to a lack of coordination between FAA and the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and a flawed FAA registration system.

Cyprus recently announced it will defer payments of certain value-added taxes, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a March 31 KPMG post. Eligible VAT payments may be deferred to Nov. 10; penalties and interest will not be invoked if payments are deferred, the post said.