Compliance and enforcement activities for exports using country-based license exceptions differ only from licensed exports in terms of license application review, vetting parties to transactions, and recordkeeping, said the Government Accountability Office in report on “Export Controls: Compliance and Enforcement Activities and Congressional Notification Requirements under Country-Based License Exemptions.” The report, requested by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-Calif.), was compiled in response to concerns about new country-based license exceptions such as the State Department’s defense trade treaties with the U.K. and Australia, as well as the Bureau of Industry and Security’s new Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) license exception.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is asking for comments by Jan, 18 on the impact that implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) has had on commercial activities involving “Schedule 1” chemicals during calendar year 2012. Information collected will be used by BIS to prepare its annual certification to Congress, which is required by the 1997 Senate Resolution giving its advice and consent to the ratification of the CWC.
The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. said it received an application for final commitment for a long-term loan or financial guarantee in excess of $100 million to support the export of locomotive kits to South Africa. The supplier is GE Transportation, and the obligor Transnet SOC Ltd. Comments are due by Jan. 12 via WWW.REGULATIONS.GOV, enter EIB-2012-0050.
The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. approved a $1.03 billion loan to GLOBALFOUNDRIES to finance the export of American-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Germany, it said. Four American exporters from California, Massachusetts, and Oregon will participate in the transaction, it said. The loan will support the expansion of the GLOBALFOUNDRIES Fab 1 silicon-wafer-fabrication facility in Dresden, Germany.
The State Department is seeking comment on a Directorate of Defense Trade Controls Information Collection: "Request for Commodity Jurisdiction (CJ) Determination," it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for Dec. 14. Comments are due by Jan. 14 to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov, OMB Control Number 14050163. Further information: Nicholas Memos, 202-663-2829 or memosni@state.gov. DDTC estimated the information filing will take 10 hours per response, for a total of 12,600 hours.
A group of medical professionals, scientists and engineers plan a press conference at 2 p.m. Dec. 13 on a petition urging the Obama Administration to halt large-scale export of liquefied natural gas until the health impacts in the U.S. of dramatically expanded fracking can be resolved, organizers said. They said they will point out "ample grounds" for concern about the potential harm posed to humans by the hydro fracking of shale gas, saying more research must be done. The live, telephone-based news conference will be at 1-800-860-2442.
The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. said it received an application from Boeing for a final commitment for a long-term loan or financial guarantee in excess of $100 million to support the export of commercial aircraft to Abu Dhabi. The planes would be used by Etihad Airways. Details are (here). Comments must be received by Jan. 6 via WWW.REGULATIONS.GOV, at EIB-2012-0048.
Capintec, a supplier of energy measurement products and services, will pay $23,000 to settle charges that it violated the Export Administration Regulations by exporting to a party listed on the Entity List without the required license. According to the Bureau of Industry and Security settlement agreement, Capintec exported a dose calibrator to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in May 2010, valued at $5,120. Shortly beforehand in February 2010, Capintec had received an outreach visit from BIS on the need to screen all parties to an export transaction against the Entity List, BIS said. If Capintec fails to pay the agreed amount in 30 days, BIS will assess interest and penalties, and may suspend the company’s export privileges for one year. Capintec neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
Sempra Energy said it filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to add natural gas liquefaction and export facilities to its existing Cameron LNG terminal in Hackberry, La. It said additional permits and approvals will be required before construction on the Cameron liquefaction project can be completed and the project becomes operational. Cameron LNG already received approval from the Department of Energy to export LNG, it said. The new liquefaction facility will be comprised of three liquefaction trains with a total export capability of 12 million tons per annum of LNG, or approximately 1.7 Bcf per day. The facility is expected to begin delivering LNG to international markets in 2017.
The U.S. "is very concerned" that Russia imposed new requirements that U.S. beef and pork exports to Russia be tested and certified free of the feed additive ractopamine, said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a joint statement. They said the requirements "appear to be inconsistent with [Russia's] obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization" and asked Russia to suspend these new measures and restore market access for U.S. beef and pork products. The statement said Russia committed as part of its WTO accession package to adhere rigorously to WTO requirements and to use international standards "unless it had a risk assessment to justify use of a more stringent standard. ... This is an important opportunity for Russia to demonstrate that it takes its WTO commitments seriously."