An Iranian citizen who lived for a time in Turkey was charged in two separate indictments for violating U.S. export laws, including several counts of conspiracy to export goods to Iran and to a Specially Designated National, the Department of Justice said in a June 4 press release. Peyman Amiri Larijani -- operations manager for Kral Havacilik IC VE DIS Ticaret Sirketi (Kral Aviation) -- was indicted on 34 counts of violating export laws in 2015 and four counts in 2016.

Panelists warned against increasingly strict export controls and criticized the Trump administration's handling of the Huawei blacklisting during a June 4 Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing on “Confronting Threats From China: Assessing Controls on Technology and Investment, and Measures to Combat Opioid Trafficking.” The U.S. is drawing dangerously close to shrinking markets for U.S. semiconductor exporters, the panelists said, a move that could prove devastating for the industry. They also suggested the Trump administration’s restrictions on Huawei are too broad and have hurt U.S. exporters as well as damaged trade talks between the two sides.

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade amended three general licenses related to “maritime anti-piracy,” military goods and Iraq, the department said in a June 4 press release. The first change amends Schedule 1 of the maritime and anti-piracy license “to reflect the change of control entry for non-military shotguns.” The second change amends the general export license for military goods “to allow goods to be moved directly from one exhibition to another” instead of requiring “goods to be returned directly to their origin after a single exhibition event.” The third change amends the general export license for Iraq “to correct a reference to the category of goods to which it applies.”

Brazil has suspended shipments of beef to China after discovering a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in its Mato Grosso state, according to a June 4 press release from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture. The agency suspended the issuance of sanitary certificates for shipments to China on June 4, effective for all shipments on or after May 31, the release said. The International Organization for Animal Health has already completed its evaluation of the case and found no risk of the spread of BSE, so exports of beef may continue to be shipped normally to other countries, the release said. The OIE declined to change Brazil’s disease risk status, which remains “insignificant,” the Agriculture Ministry said in another update.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service released a translation of China’s food safety standard for the maximum residue limits of pesticides in foods, which sets 302 MRLs for 43 pesticides, USDA said in a May 22 report. The limits were issued by China's National Health Commission, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, and took effect in December.

India customs will introduce paperless processing of exports in its Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT) at the port of Visakhapatnam “along with other facilities across the country,” according to a report in the New Indian Express. The decision follows the successful implementation of electronic filing of supporting documents for exports under a pilot project in New Delhi and Chennai, the report said. The “shipping bill” and supporting documents such as the invoice, purchase order, license, certificate of analysis are to be submitted online by the exporter or customs broker, and the India customs officer will be able to view the documents for processing, the report said. "It is now mandatory to upload digitally signed supporting documents on ESANCHIT at the time of filing of shipping bills," Visakhapatnam customs said in a May 27 circular. "The exports/Customs Brokers should not be allowed to submit the supporting documents in hard copies, henceforth."

India customs is more closely scrutinizing transfer pricing methodologies of several multinationals that could lead to challenges to the valuation of their related party imports and exports, according to a report in the Economic Times. Under an initiative first launched in 2016, India’s customs and income tax authorities are now finally beginning to share trade and tax data, respectively, the report said. Previously, the two agencies didn’t share data, so companies could get away with “information arbitrage” in some cases, it said. No “notices” have been issued yet to multinationals, but they could come in the coming months in some cases, the report said.

Thailand’s recently passed Weapons of Mass Destruction Related Items Act will take effect Jan. 1, 2020, according to a June 4 notice from Baker McKenzie, regulating all goods related to the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Products include “armaments,” dual-use items and “tangible and intangible items that could have commercial interest, technology or even software,” the notice said. The act would control exports, re-exports, transshipments, transits, brokering and other actions related to the weapons.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is amending the Export Administration Regulations to impose tougher restrictions on non-commercial aircraft and passenger vessels authorized to fly or sail to Cuba on temporary sojourn. The final rule amends license exception Aircraft, Vessels and Spacecraft to remove the eligibility for exports to Cuba of such aircraft and vessels. It also sets a general policy of denial for such exports except for in cases of a foreign policy or national security interest. “Consequently, private and corporate aircraft, cruise ships, sailboats, fishing boats, and other similar aircraft and vessels generally will be prohibited from going to Cuba,” BIS said. License exception AVS will still be available for commercial aircraft and cargo vessels exported to Cuba on temporary sojourn. The final rule takes effect June 5.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 28-31 in case they were missed.