A new U.K. general license issued Jan. 14 allows certain people and entities to "make funds available" to sanctioned parties to pay for food and beverages, medicines and medical products, and personal and household products. The license, issued by the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, authorizes those transactions for up to two months after the party was sanctioned, and the payments can't exceed about $426 per month. The license doesn't apply to certain sanctioned parties, including those designated under a counter-terrorism regime or by the U.N. It takes effect Jan. 15.
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President Joe Biden is removing Cuba from the State Department's state sponsors of terrorism list, one of several steps his administration is taking to "improve the livelihood of Cubans," the White House announced Jan. 14.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is planning to release two new rules Jan. 15, Undersecretary Alan Estevez said during a Jan. 14 event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “One will be related to biotech,” and the other is “related to compliance around semiconductors,” Estevez said. He didn't give further details. A BIS spokesperson said the agency has "nothing else to add beyond Estevez’s remarks."
Outgoing Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez said he would advise his successor to continue coordinating export controls with allies and to not immediately turn to extraterritorial restrictions, such as the foreign direct product rule.
The Bureau of Industry and Security released four new rules Jan. 15, including one that will make more changes to its semiconductor-related export controls -- including by creating a new list of trusted chip designers and service providers -- another rule that will place new controls on certain biotechnology equipment and technology, and two rules that will add companies to the Entity List.
Many signs are pointing toward the incoming Trump administration embracing the new sweeping U.S. export controls on AI chips, an AI technology policy researcher said this week.
Alejo Cabranes, former senior policy adviser with the Treasury Department, is joining DOJ as an attorney in its National Security Division, he announced on LinkedIn. Cabranes has worked at Treasury since 2023, where he helped implement sanctions and anti-money laundering policies.
A World Trade Organization dispute panel on Jan. 10 delivered a mixed ruling in Indonesia's dispute against various measures imposed by the EU and its member states on palm oil and oil palm crop-based biofuels from Indonesia. The European Commission touted the ruling as a win, declaring in a press release that the panel "confirmed the overall WTO compatibility" of its "Renewable Energy Directive" legal framework.
DOJ entered into a deal to send around $52.88 million in forfeited assets to Nigeria "in recognition of Nigeria's assistance" in an investigation into corruption in the Nigerian oil industry, DOJ announced.