China will suspend imports from three Ecuadorian plants after it said packaging samples of the plants’ frozen shrimp shipments tested positive for coronavirus, an unofficial translation of a July 10 notice said. While the “shrimp body” and the “inner packaging samples” tested negative, China said the outer packaging from Pesquera Santa Priscila SA, Empacreci SA and Empacadora Del Pacifico Sociedad Anonima Edpacif SA tested positive. Chinese importers of the frozen shrimp must recall any shipments produced after March 12 and return or destroy the shrimp. A “leading Ecuadorian shrimp exporter” disputed China’s claims about the packages testing positive, Bloomberg reported July 12.
The State Department approved a potential military sale to South Korea worth about $250 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said July 10. The sale includes items and services to “extend follow-on support” for its “Peace Krypton reconnaissance aircraft.” The principal contractor is Lockheed Martin.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began an interagency review for a final Bureau of Industry and Security rule to suspend license exceptions for Hong Kong. OIRA received the rule July 10. BIS announced last month it was suspending license exceptions for shipments to the region and issued a guidance and a savings clause for exports affected by the move (see 2006300050).
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on July 10 removed five entries and amended one entry under four sanctions regimes. The U.K. removed from its sanctions lists Ri Pyong Chol, North Korea; Fahd Jasim Al-Furayj, Syria; Col. Mas’ud Abdulhafiz, Libya; and Robert Kibelisa and Lambert Mende, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The U.K. also revised an entry for Ahmed Al-Jarroucheh under its Syria sanctions.
The United Kingdom issued a July 9 guidance on its Somalia sanctions regime, which will take effect 11 p.m. Dec. 31. The guidance contains information on the sanctions, how companies can comply with the regulations and related sanctions documents.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed sanctions from Yemane Gebreab, an Eritrea government official and presidential adviser. The change took effect July 10 and removes Gebreab from OFAC’s Somalia sanctions.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls rescinded its policy for exports of firearms sound suppressors and will instead handle those shipments “in a manner consistent” with other U.S. Munitions List controlled technologies, DDTC said July 10. DDTC’s policy previously called for “enhanced guidelines” for approving export licenses for suppressors and restricted exports to “only official end users such as government or military entities,” the agency said.
The European Union is considering countermeasures, including export restrictions, in response to Beijing’s interference in Hong Kong’s autonomy, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said during a July 13 press conference. The measures will include a “package” of EU-wide restrictions, although some member states may announce their own national measures in the “coming days,” Borrell said.
China announced sanctions on U.S. lawmakers and a congressional commission in response to U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. China’s sanctions, which include travel restrictions, target Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.; U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback; and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said July 13. A ministry spokesperson said the U.S. has “no right and no cause to interfere” in Xinjiang and urged the U.S. to rescind its sanctions or it will issue a “further response.”
President Trump said he signed an executive order that ends Hong Kong’s preferential trade treatment and increases export restrictions on sensitive technologies. Trump also said he signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which authorizes sanctions against Chinese authorities and foreign banks associated with passing Hong Kong’s so-called national security law.