A House Democrat and Republican recently introduced a bill that would modify financing of certain U.S. exports to Cuba, allowing exporters to enter into contracts with certain Cuban agricultural businesses. The bill, introduced March 27 by Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., and Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., would amend a section in the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 to allow U.S. “investment” in Cuba, according to the bill. The bill defines investment as purchasing a share of ownership of an agricultural business, sharing in profits of a business or entering into a contract to “sell goods, services, or technology relating to the agricultural business.” Currently, U.S. agricultural exporters are not allowed to “extend credit” to Cuban buyers, the bill said, causing exports to Cuba to decline and placing U.S. exporters at a “key disadvantage relative to other exporting countries.”

The departments of State and the Treasury, along with the U.S. attorney general, announced sanctions against an Iranian man for contributing to “proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery,” according to a notice to be published in the April 10 Federal Register. State said Reza Ebrahimi is being designated under a 2005 Executive Order titled “Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and Their Supporters.” The designation took effect March 22, 2019.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency issued a policy memorandum April 8 clarifying its implementation of a reduced administrative surcharge for Foreign Military Sales activities. For the purposes of a reduction in the rate from 3.5% to 3.2% that took effect July 1, 2018, the “implementation date or the date when the initial deposit from the purchaser is received” is used “to determine which Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs), amendments, and modifications are eligible for the Administrative Surcharge Rate of 3.2%,” the policy memo says. “The implementation guidance that accompanied DSCA policy memorandum 18-27 erroneously instructed the Implementing Agencies to apply the 3.2% Admin surcharge rate to all new FMS and Building Partner Capacity (BPC) cases and new line items added via LOA amendment 'accepted' on or after 1 June 2018,” DSCA said. “Regardless of the acceptance date, all FMS and BPC cases and new lines added via LOA amendments ‘implemented’ on or after 1 June 2018 are eligible for the 3.2% surcharge rate.” DSCA attached revised guidance on what activities are eligible for the new, lower rate.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 1-5 in case they were missed.

The European Union and the U.S. have not formally begun the trade talks first agreed to last July, as the 28-member bloc still does not have a mandate to negotiate. Given that, many observers are doubtful negotiations could make substantial progress this year.

The European Union and the United Kingdom have agreed to an extension until Oct. 31 of the U.K.’s planned withdrawal from the EU, said European Council President Donald Tusk on twitter. Under the “flexible” six-month extension, the U.K. could still ratify the extension agreement, at which point the extension would be “terminated,” or even revoke Article 50 altogether and remain in the EU, Tusk said at a press conference following discussions among European leaders April 10 in Brussels. The extension includes plans for an “assessment” by the European Council in June, but European leaders will at that point only be “taking stock” of the situation. It won’t be a negotiating session, said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the press conference. “June is not a cliff edge,” Tusk said.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced two settlements totaling more than $650 million with a United Kingdom-based bank that allegedly violated U.S.-imposed sanctions on Cuba, Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe and now-repealed sanctions on Myanmar and Sudan, OFAC said in an April 9 notice. The announcement marked OFAC’s largest settlement amount since June 2014, when the agency reached a $963 million settlement with a bank that also violated sanctions on Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and Sudan.

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs is extending until May 31 the deadline for applications for grants available to fund training and information technology improvements in preparation for the U.K.’s planned withdrawal from the European Union. Available to importers, customs brokers, freight forwarders and couriers that are either established or have a branch in the U.K., the funding “will support customs intermediaries and traders completing customs declarations,” HMRC said. Out of a total $8 million available, $2 million is available to fund up to 50 percent of the cost of training for staff completing customs declarations, another $3 million is available to fund IT improvements related to customs declarations for small and medium intermediaries, and $3 million was invested in training courses that will be available “over the coming months to support customs broker training,” HMRC said.

In the April 8 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows: