The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Hizballah to its terrorism and terrorist financing sanctions list, according to a Jan. 17 notice. FSI also amended an entry for “Hizballah Military Wing.”
The State Department announced sanctions against Hassan Shahvarpour, a brigadier general for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, for human rights violations, the agency announced Jan. 17. Brian Hook, the State Department's special representative for Iran, said during a Jan. 17 press conference that the designation was the result of a tip the agency received from its Rewards for Justice Program (see 1911080020). Hook said Iranians have sent the agency more than 88,000 tips. “We will continue to hold more regime officials responsible for human rights violations,” Hook said. “We call on all nations to join our lead, particularly by sanctioning Iranian officials for human rights violations.”
The State Department issued a list of materials that constitute “raw or semi-finished metals” under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, according to a notice. The list includes more than 60 types of metals. The IFCA expands the scope of sanctions on Iranian energy and shipping sectors as well as a range of ports.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has done little to define the broad scope of the Iranian executive order issued earlier this month that expanded sanctions authority for the Treasury and State departments, according to trade lawyers. The order (see 2001100050) -- which authorized both primary and secondary sanctions against Iran’s construction, mining, manufacturing and textiles sectors -- did not define the scope of the Iranian sectors that may be subject to sanctions, and OFAC has yet to release guidance. OFAC did, however, issue a frequently asked question that provided a 90-day wind-down period (see 2001160011).
The Commerce Department released its final rule for transferring export controls of firearms, ammunition and other defense items from the State Department to Commerce. The rule revises the Export Administration Regulations to transfer items that no longer “warrant control” on the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List. The rule will be published alongside a final rule from the State Department, which details the changes made to Categories I, II and II of the USML and describes “more precisely” the items that warrant “export or temporary import control” on the USML. The rules, which have been highly anticipated by the firearms industry (see 1908130066), will be published Jan. 23 and take effect March 9.
Sandler Travis hired Elizabeth Chiavetta, previously “director of audit policy at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where she oversaw three branches within Regulatory Audit’s Audit Policy Division,” to the firm's auditing team, it said in a news release. Sandler Travis also added David Thomas, previously chairman of Trade for America and vice president for trade policy at Business Roundtable, as a member of the firm, it said. “As an attorney and lobbyist, David Thomas will advise and represent clients on international trade issues before Congress and the Executive Branch as well as assist on issues related to customs rules, policies, and procedures,” the firm said.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
In the Jan. 15-16 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Slovenia recently amended its value-added tax law to reflect changes to European Union VAT rules, according to a Jan. 15 KPMG post. The changes include new forms for VAT returns and a reduced 5 percent VAT rate on books, newspapers and other periodicals. The changes also include revised penalties for violations of VAT rules and new conditions for VAT exemptions on the “intra-Community” supply of goods. The amendments follow sweeping changes to the EU’s VAT system to simplify trade and tax measures between EU member states (see 1912230057).
The European Union is amending procedures for automotive coated steel sheet imports by the automotive sector under safeguards implemented in response to U.S. Section 232 tariffs. The European Commission says procedures for demonstrating end use in the automotive industry -- required to qualify for a special tariff-rate quota only for the automotive sector (see 1909270022) -- have been difficult to implement, causing supply chain disruptions for affected companies. The commission is now revoking those end use procedures, and increasing the amount allowed under the TRQ for regular steel sheet to account for additional imports by the automotive sector as a result of difficulty implementing the end use procedures for the special TRQ. The changes take retroactive effect Oct. 1, 2019.