The U.S. renewed a national emergency declaration authorizing sanctions against people and entities that undermine Lebanon’s democratically elected government, the White House said July 29. The national emergency due to the threat to U.S. national security posed by violence and political instability in Lebanon was extended for one year beyond the Aug. 1, 2020, expiration date.
The Council of the European Union on July 30 imposed its first sanctions against responsible parties behind cyberattacks, which it said were perpetrated by Chinese, Russian and North Korean individuals and entities. The designations target six people and three entities for attacks against the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and multinational companies in the EU. Designated are: Gao Qiang, Zhang Shilong, Alexey Valeryevich Minin, Aleksei Sergeyvich Morenets, Evgenii Mikhaylovich Serebriakov, Oleg Mikhaylovich Sotnikov, Tianjin Huaying Haitai Science and Technology Development Co. Ltd., Chosun Expo and the Main Centre for Special Technologies (GTsST) of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The U.S. on July 31 sanctioned a Chinese state-controlled organization and two Chinese officials for human rights violations in Xinjiang. The sanctions target the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, former XPCC Party Secretary Sun Jinlong and XPCC Deputy Party Secretary Peng Jiarui.
Former U.S. trade representative Bob Zoellick laughed when a webinar moderator asked him how a pro-free-trade consensus can be re-established. Zoellick was on a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar about the future of the global trading system with European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan June 30. He said those who support free trade have always had a fight, because politics often align with protecting domestic producers from import competition.
The Canada Border Services Agency postponed the system release for its new e-manifest program until Nov. 1, a July 29 email to industry said. The changes were scheduled to be implemented June 28 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBSA said. The changes will require freight forwarders and certain carriers to “transmit advance secondary data for cargo” imported into Canada, Ocean Network Express, a container shipping company, reported. CBSA said industry will have an opportunity to “test” the changes with CBSA in early September. “Test packages will be made available, and the testing dates will be confirmed in the coming weeks,” the agency said.
India revised its export controls for a range of personal protective equipment, the country’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a July 28 notice. It set new monthly export quotas and restrictions for medical goggles, “ply surgical masks” and certain gloves but removed export controls from certain medical coveralls, non-medical masks and face shields.
The Treasury Department finalized the fee structure for filing certain transactions with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and made a “clarifying revision” to the definition of “principal place of business,” according to a final rule released July 28. The fee structure was first outlined in March and April (see 2004280027), and the original definition for principal place of business was outlined in a January rule. The rule takes effect Aug. 27.
The FDA amended its export listing procedures for dairy and infant formula firms exporting to China to reflect provisions in the U.S-China phase one trade deal, the agency said in a July 29 email to industry. Because the deal recognizes the U.S. dairy safety system “as providing at least the same level of protection” as China’s system, dairy facilities no longer have to provide FDA with confirmation that a third-party auditor “has found the firm to be in compliance” with Chinese dairy regulations, the agency said. This change applies to all Export Listing Module applications received as of July 1. The FDA said its announcement follows a U.S. Department of Agriculture notice that it will no longer conduct plant audits for dairy firms exporting to China as of July 1.
Two senators plan to address the lack of regulation in the art industry after the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a July 29 report detailing how Russian oligarchs have used the industry to evade U.S. sanctions. The report calls the art industry the “largest legal, unregulated market” in the U.S., saying it has been exploited for money laundering to aid U.S.-sanctioned people and companies, allowing them to conduct million-dollar transactions. The industry is not subject to anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing controls for transactions, the report said, and private art dealers are not required to comply with anti-money laundering requirements.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control revised an entry under its Cuba sanctions regime, a July 30 notice said. The revision changes the entry for Havana International Bank to Havin Bank Limited to reflect a name change.