The European Union should “move quickly” to form its sanctions regime against human rights abuses amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, members of the European Parliament said in a March 27 letter to European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell. The members said the EU “cannot forget” global human rights abuses, and stressed the importance of including the name “Magnitsky” in the sanctions legislation, similar to the U.S. and Canada. The EU began working on a human rights sanctions regime in December (see 1912100046).
The Trump administration should issue “broad licenses” to medical companies and create dedicated channels for industry to export medical goods to Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic, former Vice President Joe Biden said April 2. Although the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control already has broad general licenses that allow exemptions for humanitarian exports, Biden said they are not effective. “In practice, most governments and organizations are too concerned about running afoul of U.S. sanctions to offer assistance,” Biden said. “As a result, our sanctions are limiting Iran’s access to medical supplies and needed equipment.”
Senior Trump administration officials agreed to three measures that will tighten restrictions on China’s ability to obtain advanced U.S. technology, according to an April 1 Reuters report. The measures, agreed to during a March 25 meeting (see 2003260036), will “introduce hurdles” to block Chinese companies from buying U.S. optical materials, radar equipment and semiconductors, the report said. It is unclear if President Donald Trump will sign off on the new rules, Reuters said. It is also unclear how these measures relate to potential changes to the Direct Product Rule and the de minimis rule that administration officials have been considering for months (see 2003050041, 2003130037 and 1912100033).
As countries seek to acquire needed supplies of ventilators, masks and other protective gear, the deputy director for trade and agriculture at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that nationalizing production of these goods is not the answer for the next pandemic. Julia Nielson, who was speaking on a Washington International Trade Association webinar April 2, said, “I don’t think nationalization of supply has ever meant security of supply.” She said that countries may need to consider the inventories they hold, and redundancies in where they get goods, but that given the way this pandemic is spreading in waves, relying on one country, even your own, could be risky.
Expectations for sanctions compliance are increasing amid the COVID-19 pandemic as both U.S. and United Kingdom agencies continue sanctions enforcement, trade lawyers said. The U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation continue to issue sanctions, pursue enforcement and expect heightened due diligence from industry, the lawyers said, “You've got OFAC doing its continuing expansion of U.S. sanctions and … you've got increasing pressure from even the U.K.,” said David Wolff, a trade lawyer with Crowell & Moring, speaking during an April 2 webinar hosted by the law firm. “The regulatory expectations, if anything, are getting worse.”
INSTEX, the European payment system designed to allow countries to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions (see 1912020025), completed its first transaction, France, Germany and the United Kingdom said in a March 31 notice. The countries said the mechanism successfully facilitated exports of medical goods from Europe to Iran. INSTEX will now “work on more transactions,” the notice said. The U.S. has warned Europe that anyone associated with INSTEX could face sanctions (see 1905300035).
The Netherlands customs authority announced a package of measures to ease burdens on companies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a March 26 KPMG alert. The measures, announced March 26, will allow companies to request payment deferrals for customs duties and will postpone a new provision that would have required companies to be “established” in the European Union “in order to act as [an] exporter for customs purposes,” KPMG said. Dutch customs will also “show leniency” to companies that cannot “comply with customs obligations on time” due to impacts from the pandemic and will grant a “special exemption” for imports of personal protective equipment if certain conditions are met.
The Canada Border Services Agency should suspend customs liability during the period of deferred customs duties, the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers said in an announcement posted on the Farrow blog. “These are unprecedented times, and the normal and beneficial business practices that underpin the customs broker-client financial relationship now have the potential to negatively impact the intended positive effects of deferral,” it said. “For example, brokers who hold release prior to payment security on behalf of importers may require deposits or payments to mitigate their financial risk.” The CSCB “also requested that there be no claims against importer bonds during this time,” it said. “We believe this gives importers the best chance of benefiting from the government’s decision on deferral in the next three months and beyond, supporting their viability. It also supports customs brokers and the valuable services they provide not only in the context of the accounting and payment process, but for release of goods at a time when trade facilitation is critical to recovery.”
India amended several provisions in its Foreign Trade Policy, according to a March 31 notice from the country’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade. The changes include six-month extensions for certain duty-free import authorizations as well as “various other changes … extending the date of exemptions” for imports by one year, the notice said.
The State Department approved a potential $194 million military sale to South Korea, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said March 30. The sale includes upgrades for aircrafts and their communication links, radios, transponders and more. The prime contractor is Lockheed Martin.