Bangladesh will introduce a database of sanitary and phytosanitary measures to help importers and exporters better comply with global requirements on “food safety, plants and animal health issues,” according to a Sept. 1 report from New Age, a Bangladesh-based newspaper. In doing so, Bangladesh’s commerce ministry has asked traders and other industry representatives to detail common challenges they face when dealing with sanitary requirements, the report said. A common problem is a lack of knowledge about the requirements by other countries, the report said. Bangladeshi officials suspect some countries of using the requirements as non-tariff barriers, according to the report.
China has put into place part of the retaliatory tariffs it announced Aug. 23 (see 1908230004). The tariffs increased just after midnight on Sept. 1, just as the latest escalation from the U.S. did. The 10 percent increase in tariff rates applies to 270 products, according to an unofficial translation of a China Customs Tariff Commission document.
A Turkish businessman was sentenced to just more than two years in prison following his conviction for conspiring to illegally export marine equipment from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said in a Sept. 3 press release. Resit Tavan, owner of Istanbul-based Ramor Dis Ticaret, tried to export “specialized” equipment, including outboard engines, marine power generators and power boat propulsion equipment known as “surface drives,” the press release said.
Commerce revoked export privileges for Sammy Smith, who was convicted in 2018 of violating the Export Control Act after trying to illegally export firearms components from the U.S. to Turkey, Commerce said in an Aug. 30 notice. Smith tried to export several items on the U.S. Munitions List, including “glock pistol upper receivers, barrels and recoil springs, Lone Wolf pistol upper receivers with matching barrels and a Beretta PX4 pistol short barrel,” Commerce said. Smith was sentenced to two months in prison, six months of supervised release and a $100 fine, the notice said. Commerce revoked Smith’s export privileges for seven years dating from his July 9, 2018, conviction.
President Donald Trump told reporters that the negotiating meeting planned for September with the Chinese "is still on." He told reporters on Sept. 2 that "that hasn’t changed. They haven’t changed and we haven’t. We’ll see what happens."
The Food and Drug Administration announced that it has “fully transitioned” to its year-old Export Listing Module for the European Union dairy export list and all export lists maintained for Chile and China. U.S. establishments that are currently included on the EU collagen, gelatin or seafood export lists “should submit applications in the ELM if they wish to remain on these lists,” FDA said on its website. And “effective immediately, any U.S. establishment that wishes to be included on any FDA-maintained export list for food products should apply in the ELM,” FDA said. Launched in July 2018 (see 1807100050), FDA’s ELM is “an electronic portal for receiving and processing requests from FDA-regulated establishments that seek to be included on all export lists for FDA-regulated food products” that may be required by some importing countries. FDA said the ELM will notify currently listed establishments that they must resubmit their ELM applications every two years and update their listing information, else they will be removed from the lists.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on three Iranian entities and made changes to one entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List, according to a Sept. 3 sanctions notice. The action targets Astronautics Research Institute, the Iran Space Agency and the Iran Space Research Center. OFAC also added identifying information for Alfredo Leyva Beltran, a Mexican national listed with the Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker Kingpin (SDNTK) indication. OFAC did not immediately provide more details.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned an oil tanker that shipped more than 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil to aid Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, Treasury said in an Aug. 30 press release. The tanker, Adrian Darya 1, and its captain, Akhilesh Kumar, are being sanctioned for providing support to terrorism, Treasury said. Treasury said the IRGC-QF’s “highest-ranking officials” oversee exports of Iran’s oil and hide its origin, sending it to Syria or “IRGC-QF proxies across the region.” The ship, formerly known as Grace 1, was recently detained by Gibraltar and released over U.S. objections (see 1908190036).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published the Nicaraguan Sanctions Regulations, detailing what transactions are blocked and exempted and listing penalties for violations of the sanctions, OFAC said in a notice. The agency said it plans to release a “more comprehensive” guidance, general licenses and policy statements about the regulations. The sanctions take effect Sept. 4.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a guidance for exports, re-exports and transfers to Pakistan, covering license requirements for items subject to the Export Administration Regulations and best practices for screening Pakistani customers.