Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
More than 30 Senate Republicans introduced a bill Feb. 15 that would impose new sanctions against Russia and expedite certain U.S. arms sales as President Vladimir Putin threatens to invade Ukraine. The bill, titled the Never Yielding Europe’s Territory Act, would mandate post-invasion sanctions against the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline and various Russian government officials, military leaders, oligarchs and banks. The bill would also impose sanctions on members of Putin’s inner circle regardless of whether an invasion occurs.
Although many companies could be affected by a potential expansion of the U.S. foreign direct product rule if Russia invades Ukraine, the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada can also deploy other export restrictions that could have significant compliance implications, Baker McKenzie lawyers said. Those controls could range from more strict licensing policies to a complete trade embargo on certain Russian annexed territories.
Important questions still surround the implementation of a potential multilateral sanctions package against Russia, economic and security experts said, including U.S. efforts to enforce an expansion of the foreign-direct product rule. Although details may not yet be clear, a former State Department official warned that new U.S. sanctions against Russia could soon turn strict enough to mirror trade restrictions against Iran.
An amendment to the United Kingdom's Russia sanctions regime expanding the criteria under which individuals and entities can be listed entered into force Feb. 10. The revised regulation allows the U.K. to sanction people who have been involved in destabilizing Ukraine or obtaining a benefit from backing the Russian government, among other things. Parliament defined a person being "involved in obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia" as someone running a government-affiliated business, engaging in business of economic significance to the Russian government, carrying on business in a sector of strategic significance to the government or owning or controlling a government-affiliated entity.
Alaska's two Republican senators, Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, introduced a bill that would ban the import of Russian seafood products. Russia doesn't import U.S. seafood products anymore, in retaliation for sanctions Western nations imposed after Russia invaded Crimea, part of Ukraine, a region that it later annexed. The bill, which the senators announced Dec. 11 but introduced earlier this week, is called the U.S.-Russian Federation Seafood Reciprocity Act.
The Russian government planned to meet with about 100 domestic electronics manufacturers, consumers and financial firms Feb. 12 to discuss methods to avoid various trade restrictions imposed by foreign countries, according to an unofficial translation of a Feb. 11 report from the Russian daily Kommersant. The talks, planned as Russia prepares a military invasion into Ukraine, were expected to include a “strategic session” on how the Russian companies can “diversify import channels” to mitigate the restrictions. Officials were to speak about “adjusting measures to support electronics manufacturers, developing independent chip production in Russia, as well as the prospects for import substitution in the segment of laptops, workstations and servers,” the report said. Companies expected to participate include SberBank, Rostelecom, Baikal Electronics and Rostec. The U.S., the European Union and others are preparing a new set of export controls and sanctions against Russia if it further invades Ukraine (see 2201250042).
Although the Commerce and State departments have been able to conduct some export end-use checks during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said both agencies continue to face challenges scheduling on-site inspections.
Senators said they are continuing to negotiate the details of a comprehensive Russia sanctions bill Feb. 8 and hope to reach an agreement quickly. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, declined to say what the final sticking points are, but said they need to be cleared up soon. “We’re running out of runway here,” Risch told reporters on Capitol Hill, “and it’s really important that we get this done.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.