The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three people and 16 entities for involvement with the Nicolas Maduro-led regime in Venezuela, Treasury said in a Sept. 17 press release. The people and entities are connected to Alex Nain Saab Moran and his business partner Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas, who have helped the Maduro regime to “corruptly profit” from imports of food aid and distribution within the country. The designated people include Saab’s two brothers, Amir Luis Saab Moran and Luis Alberto Saab Moran, and Pulido’s son David Enrique Rubio Gonzalez, Treasury said. The 16 entities -- based in Colombia, Panama and Italy -- are owned or controlled by the sanctioned people.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 9-13 in case they were missed.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing to designate norfentanyl as a fentanyl precursor chemical and control it as a schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act. "The scheduling of norfentanyl as an immediate precursor of the schedule II controlled substance, fentanyl, would subject norfentanyl to all of the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, importing, and exporting of a schedule II controlled substance," DEA said. Comments are due Nov. 18.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a blocking memorandum and formally updated 33 entries on its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. The agency published “identifying information” on the entries as a result of President Donald Trump’s Sept. 10 executive order that expanded Treasury’s terrorism-related sanctions authorities (see 1909100048). Most names are for persons or entities in the Middle East, specifically Palestine.
Iraq wants to increase trade with the U.S. and make market access for U.S. companies more attractive, Iraq's Ambassador to the U.S. Fareed Yasseen said. But Yasseen also said Iraq is opposed to U.S. sanctions on Iran and will not take a side as tensions escalate. Yasseen said Iraq is working on two draft laws to boost trade and standardize entrances at customs border gates to convince U.S. companies to do business in the country. “Simply put, we would like U.S. businesses and U.S. society to have a role in the reconstruction of Iraq,” Yasseen said, speaking during a Sept. 10 Atlantic Council event.
The European Union Council on Sept. 16 updated and strengthened its export controls on arms sales and issued an updated guidance on the changes. The updates include a new “searchable online database” of member states’ arms export data, a renewed commitment to “promote the universalisation and effective implementation” of the Arms Trade Treaty and a push for “a broader range of information-sharing” on export controls.
In the Sept. 13 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The United Kingdom recently updated several export control general licenses after a review of licensing of exports to Hong Kong, it said in a notice to exporters. The updated general licenses cover dual-use items to Hong Kong, transshipment of dual-use goods through Hong Kong, and the open general trade control license for category C goods. The updates became effective Sept. 13.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Kale Kayihura, the former inspector general of police of the Ugandan Police Force, for leading an entity involved in human rights abuses and corruption, Treasury said in a Sept. 13 press release. Kayihura and members of Uganda’s Flying Squad Unit abused detainees at the Nalufenya Special Investigations Center and after they'd been subjected to the abuse, offered them money if they confessed to crimes, Treasury said. Kayihura also used bribery to improve his political position within the Ugandan government and stole funds intended for government use, the press release said. Kayihura was sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three North Korean state-run hacking groups responsible for supporting the country’s illegal weapons and missile programs, Treasury said in a Sept. 13 press release. The cyber groups -- Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff and Andariel -- work on behalf of North Korea to conduct “cyber espionage, data theft, monetary heists and destructive malware operations,” Treasury said.