The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation revised a range of entries under six different sanctions regimes, according to Jan. 21 notices. OFSI amended sanctions entries listed under the regimes for South Sudan, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, counterterrorism, and the Central African Republic; and it deleted 11 entries under its North Korean sanctions regime.
Serica Energy, a United Kingdom-based energy company, said it received a renewed license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control to continue providing goods, services and support to the North Sea Rhum field, the company said Jan. 21. Serica also said it received “secondary sanctions assurance” from OFAC and will be allowed to continue providing services to Rhum beyond the Feb. 28 expiration of its current license. The new license is valid through Jan. 31, 2023. The Rhum gas field is partly owned by an Iranian oil company. OFAC declined to comment.
A European Union Parliament resolution adopted Jan. 21 calls on the EU to sanction people and entities involved in the arrest and imprisonment of Alexei Navalny in Russia earlier this month. Although the EU sanctioned several Russian officials last year for poisoning Navalny (see 2010150008), a Russian opposition politician, the Parliament said those measures need to be expanded and “significantly” strengthened.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. will maintain its focus on Chinese investment, prioritize enforcement and continue to tweak its jurisdiction under the Joe Biden administration (see 2009170017 and 2010270050), trade lawyers said. CFIUS also will likely continue to see an increase in filings, the lawyers said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is working on several new proposed rules for emerging technologies and is still sifting through industry comments on potential controls for surveillance technologies, the agency said in its 2020 report to Congress this month. Along with its work on emerging technologies last year, the agency said it nearly doubled its civil penalties from 2019, processed about 3,000 more export license applications, and met with a range of trading partners and multilateral export regimes to discuss improvements to export controls.
Vietnam recently launched an online platform that provides information and details on the country’s free trade agreements, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Jan. 20. The portal will serve as an “online reference tool” covering rules for trading with Vietnam, including information on import duties, rules of origin, technical standards and other trade restrictions, the report said. It will also provide overseas traders with market updates and information on import and export procedures.
India revised its export policies for certain “diagnostic kits and their components/laboratory reagents,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said Jan. 19. It set export quotas for certain diagnostic kits for the period December 2020 until February 2021: 66 million (660 lakh) for exports of “VTM Kits,” 40 million (400 lakh) for “RNA Extraction Kits” and 28 million (280 lakh) for “RT-PCR Kits.” The notice also outlines application procedures for exports of the kits.
China failed to meet its 2020 purchase commitments under the phase one U.S.-China trade deal, buying just 58% of the $172 billion worth of goods it had pledged to buy, Bloomberg reported Jan. 21. In total, China met 60% of its target for manufactured goods, about 64% for agricultural goods and 39% for energy-related goods, the report said. Although the Trump administration frequently touted China’s purchase milestones under the deal and expressed optimism that China would meet its targets, trade experts were skeptical, particularly due to supply chain difficulties cause by the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2010230065, 2002120043 and 2003160031). The White House and the Chinese Embassy didn’t comment.
The State Department withdrew a proposed rule that would have permanently amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to allow employees involved in ITAR-related activity to work remotely. The rule, which was sent for interagency review Dec. 3 (see c), was withdrawn Jan. 20, according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The White House on Jan. 20 announced a withdrawal of pending rules issued by the previous administration to allow incoming officials to review and approve them. The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls had considered making the telework change permanent because it proved popular with industry (see 2004240017, 2007280014 and 2012100009). A DDTC spokesperson declined to comment.
The State Department announced penalties on two foreign entities and one foreign official for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The agency said the three transferred items subject to multilateral control lists that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production, in a notice. The entities are China-based Ningbo Vet Energy Technology, Ningbo Zhongjun International Trade and their subsidiaries. Also sanctioned was Rim Ryong Nam, a North Korean official based in China and working for North Korea’s Munitions Industry Department. The two entities and the official are barred from purchasing items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act. The State Department also will suspend any current export licenses used by the entities and official and bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations. Government agencies are barred from entering into procurement contracts with them. The measures took effect Jan. 13.