The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department issued an updated list Sept. 16 of officers authorized to sign delivery verification certificates and trade licenses for imports and exports of “strategic commodities.”

China will revise its inspection and supervision procedures for crude oil imports to increase efficiency, the country’s customs authority said in a Sept. 21 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The procedures will allow oil importers to begin offloading shipments before all customs procedures are finalized if they provide certain information and an oil sample from the load being delivered. But China said imports of crude oil benefiting from these procedures may be sold only after they have passed the full customs inspection and issued a certificate. The new procedures will take effect Oct. 1.

A U.S. citizen was sentenced to 21 months in prison for stealing technology data from U.S. companies and illegally exporting it to South Korea, the Justice Department said Sept. 16. Si Mong Park stole technical proprietary data from two American defense contractors where he worked as a software engineer, the agency said. In 2011, he took data related to military aircraft and a missile system to South Korea, presenting the data to non-U.S. people to “drum up business for his company,” the Justice Department said. The information contained technical data subject to export controls under the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Along with the prison sentence, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked Walid Chehade’s export privileges after he was convicted of illegally exporting guns and gun parts to Lebanon, a Sept. 21 order said. Chehade, of Westlake, Ohio, was convicted May 8, 2019, and sentenced to time served, a $5,000 fine and one year of supervised release. BIS revoked Chehade’s export privileges for seven years from the date of conviction, which means until May 8, 2026.

The U.S. and the United Kingdom completed a fourth round of free trade agreement negotiations last week and have moved into the “advanced stages” in most areas, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said Sept. 22. The two sides “exchanged their first tariff offers” before the fourth round began, leading to “detailed market access discussions” during the round of negotiations. “Significant progress has been achieved since launching negotiations,” the agency said, calling the exchange of tariff offers a “notable milestone.” The U.K. said “the speed at which this stage has been reached demonstrates the momentum behind these negotiations.” The two sides plan to hold the fifth round of talks in mid- to late October, the U.K. said, again with discussions taking place before it begins. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not comment.

The European Union and the United Kingdom sanctioned two people for human rights violations in Libya and three entities for violating the United Nations arms embargo targeting Libya, the EU said Sept. 21. The designations are for Mahmoud al-Werfalli, a commander of the Benghazi-based al-Saiqa Brigade, and Moussa Diab, who helped illegally detain migrants and refugees in camps. The sanctions also target Sigma Airlines, Avrasya Shipping and Med Wave Shipping, commercial cargo companies.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five people for helping the Nicolas Maduro regime undermine democracy in Venezuela. The designations target Miguel Antonio Jose Ponente Parra, Guillermo Antonio Luces Osorio, Jose Bernabe Gutierrez Parra, Chaim Jose Bucaran Paraguan and Williams Jose Benavides Rondon, a Sept. 22 news release said. All have helped Maduro manipulate the country’s parliamentary elections by placing control of Venezuela’s opposition parties “in the hands of politicians affiliated” with the Maduro regime, OFAC said. The agency also revised its sanctions entry for Maduro.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Sept. 14-18 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The Bureau of Industry and Security’s proposal to reduce the number of countries eligible for license exception Additional Permissive Reexports (APR) (see 2004270025) could damage U.S. competitiveness and lead to overly broad export restrictions, trade groups and industry said in comments released this month. If BIS follows through on the change, commenters suggested that it first limit the scope of the rule, which could potentially restrict more than 20 countries from receiving certain U.S. reexports that are controlled for national security reasons.