The Bureau of Industry and Security is considering revising its voluntary self-disclosure review process to focus on “more serious” disclosures, said Matthew Axelrod, BIS’s top enforcement official. Axelrod, speaking during a June 14 Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting, said the change could better dedicate the agency’s time to VSDs that warrant more attention.
In a resolution meant to be part of the EU's new rules on products created or transported by forced labor, the European Parliament recommended banning such products from the bloc. According to the recommendations, authorities would "detain and seize" the goods at EU borders in instances where "sufficient evidence" indicates that they were made or transported by forced labor.
Several companies recently updated the status of their ongoing reviews with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. One of the companies, Swiss renewable energy company Viston United Swiss, was notified that CFIUS officially began its 45-day notice review period into its planned acquisition of California-based Petroteq Energy, an oil production and technology company (see 2204200015). The two companies had filed the notice to CFIUS May 16 and were told the review period started May 24, Viston said in a document filed with the SEC.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week approved a bill that would authorize U.S. sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act against anyone who helps Iran acquire unmanned drones or their parts. The bill was overwhelmingly passed by the House in April (see 2204280007).
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet remotely June 29, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by June 24.
Lawyers are continuing to see an uptick in outreaches by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. related to non-notified deals, especially if they involve Chinese investors. Carl Valenstein, a CFIUS lawyer with Morgan Lewis, said some of his clients in the life sciences sector, even though they weren’t working with critical technologies, have recently been contacted by CFIUS.
The Bureau of Industry and Security by now should have penalized Seagate Technologies for illegally exporting goods to Huawei, James Mulvenon, a China technology and military expert, wrote in a June 6 post for the Lawfare blog. Mulvenon said BIS’s “inaction” has emboldened other companies to export similar shipments and is indicative of a larger enforcement issue at BIS surrounding its foreign direct product rule for Huawei.
A recent increase in U.S. sanctions against ransomware actors has helped to slow the effectiveness of cyberattackers and limit their profits, witnesses told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs June 7. But the U.S. can do more to counter ransomware activity, they said, including working closer with allies to track ransomware payments and collecting better information from industry.
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said members of an agriculture negotiating meeting for delegation chiefs should adopt three draft texts ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. The texts contain agricultural trade reforms, a draft ministerial declaration on trade and food security, and a draft ministerial declaration exempting food bought by the U.N.'s World Food Program from export bans. With the MC12 looming -- set to be held June 12-15 -- Okonjo-Iweala said the delegations should target their suggestions on key elements of the texts to allow for the committee's quickest adoption.
Madagascar started a safeguard investigation on paints, the country told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards June 3, the WTO announced. Madagascar said parties wishing to request a questionnaire to participate in the investigation must request one from the ANMCC, the country's trade remedy regulator, within 30 days from the June 1 start date of the investigation. The deadline for responses to the questionnaire and comments is July 12.