The Commerce Department announced on Nov. 20 a new web search tool to help companies search the Consolidated Screening List of sanctioned people and companies (here). The search tool consolidates the nine export screening lists from the Departments of Commerce, State and Treasury for companies to consult for due diligence purposes before engaging in export transactions (here). Commerce also announced the availability of an Application Programming Interface to allow developers to create new tools, websites and mobile apps for using Consolidated Screening List data (here).
The Bureau of Industry and Security added Lev Steinberg to the Denied Persons List, the agency said in an email sent Nov. 29. Steinberg was convicted of exporting controlled weapon scopes without first getting a license from BIS, according to the denial order (here). BIS is revoking his ability to export until February 2016.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Nov. 19 added Diocenyr Ribamar Barbosa-Santos to the Denied Persons List, the agency said in an email. Barbosa-Santos was convicted of arranging the export of an Airbus A300 aircraft from China to Iran, according to a BIS denial order (here). BIS is denying his export privileges until October 2018.
The U.S. Census Bureau on Oct. 20 released trouble-shooting techniques to resolve Fatal Error notification issues in the Automated Export System. Fatal Errors occur when a shipment is rejected in AES.
The Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank raked in $675 million in “deficit-reducing” profits in fiscal year 2014, and transferred the sum to the Treasury Department, said the federal credit agency in an Oct. 9 statement. The bank’s charter was set to expire at the end of September, but lawmakers rallied together to reauthorize the bank through June 2015 as part of a stopgap funding measure that kept the government running through December (see 14092203). Supporters of the bank often say it’s one of the biggest revenue-generating parts of the federal government, and also provides a critical lifeline to U.S. exporters. "American businesses produce some of the highest quality, most innovative goods and services in the world -- that we are able to support them while also helping to reduce the deficit is a bonus for taxpayers, and a testament to the hard work and risk management efforts of Ex-Im Bank's staff," said the bank’s president Fred Hochberg in the statement. The bank faces significant opposition on Capitol Hill, however, with some lawmakers calling for its expiration. Ex-Im gives risky loans to facilitate huge corporate exports and profits, say the critics (see 14073111).
The State Department amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to “streamline, simplify and clarify” changes made to the ITAR through Export Control Reform. The Obama administration has so far finalized rules to transfer items from 15 of the 21 U.S. Munitions List categories to the Commerce Control List (see 14073001). This Oct. 10 final rule takes effect immediately, and makes a number of technical as well as classification revisions.
New York is set to create the first U.S. state credit agency based on the federal Export-Import Bank model, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Oct. 7 as he announced a series of new export promotion initiatives (here). The state is establishing the Global NY Development Fund and capitalizing it at $35 million for lending and grants to small- and medium-sized New York businesses looking to expand exports. The lending targets companies that can’t access funds through traditional banks and other financial institutions, akin to the Export-Import Bank. “Today is about opening new markets to the State, and we will aggressively market the State, and share with the global business community that there is no better place, with no better tools and resources, than the Empire State to grow and compete,” said Cuomo in announcing the initiatives at the Global NY Summit. New York will also ramp up its coordination with the Export-Import Bank, the federal credit agency, and the state will also create new trade missions in Mexico, Canada, Italy, China, and Israel.
The Census Bureau said on Oct. 6 AESPcLink users that are having trouble viewing the new Foreign Trade Regulations data fields may need to update their AESPcLink software. If AESPcLink users are not able to see the Ultimate Consignee Type and License Value data fields, Census is urging those users to update their software by logging on to AESPcLink, going to the 'Tools' section of the site and clicking on Update AESPcLink software.
The Census Bureau recently changed the name of the Foreign Trade Division to the International Trade Management Division, said a release. The Automated Export System Branch will now be called the Data Collection Branch, and the Regulations, Outreach and Education Branch is now the Trade Regulations Branch. Census is also introducing the Trade Outreach Branch, created to support trade training and education.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is temporarily denying export privileges for X-TREME Motors, XTREME Outdoors, Tyson Preece, Corey Justin Preece and Toby Green for six months over violations of the Export Administration Regulations involving unauthorized exports to Russia, China and other countries. The individuals and companies, all located in Utah, are being placed on the Denied Persons List. BIS alleges those individuals and companies fabricated customs declarations to ship rifle scopes and other controlled items. BIS detained over 50 shipments that were falsely identified by the companies. The companies labeled the shipments as containing all-terrain vehicle parts. The denial order is eligible for renewal.