California-based electronics parts manufacturer and supplier Integra Technologies agreed to pay the Bureau of Industry and Security $3.3 million after admitting to violating U.S. export controls on Russia, telling BIS that it didn’t realize the transistors it was shipping needed an export license.
The outbound investment legislation that lawmakers agreed Dec. 17 to include in a newly unveiled continuing resolution (CR) (see 2412170063) would expand upon the Biden administration’s August 2023 executive order (see 2308090066) by covering more artificial intelligence models and by adding hypersonic and related aerospace technologies.
The U.S. this week arrested a dual U.S.-Iranian national living in Massachusetts and an Iranian national, charging both with conspiring to ship "sophisticated electronic components" from the U.S. to Iran in violation of U.S. export controls and sanctions.
Several lawmakers have urged the Biden administration to ease sanctions on Syria in light of the overthrow of the Assad regime by rebel forces.
The Biden administration should impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act on Republic of Georgia officials responsible for violence against those peacefully protesting the country’s democratic backsliding, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Dec. 16. “Now is the moment for the United States and our allies to stand strong with the people of Georgia in their pursuit of democracy and freedom,” Cardin said. Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., made similar comments two weeks earlier (see 2412020009).
The FDA is warning U.S. exporters about a recently implemented EU law that requires all importers and producers of bee-related products, including honey, beeswax, royal jelly, propolis and pollen, to be registered in the bloc’s Trade Control and Expert System. Before registering, FDA said exporters or their suppliers “must successfully complete an on-site assessment” by USDA before sending those goods to the EU, including a USDA Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Verification Survey, Plant Survey and Food Defense System Survey. After that assessment, companies need to “apply for inclusion on the export lists via” the FDA’s Export Listing Module, and the agency said it will then verify that the applicant “maintains good regulatory standing.”
Canada this week sanctioned five current or former senior officials of the Venezuelan government for undermining democracy in the country, including by “fraudulently” declaring Nicolas Maduro the victor of Venezuela’s recent presidential elections (see 2407290044 and 2310180070). The designations target Caryslia Beatriz Rodriguez Rodriguez, president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice; Juan Carlos Hidalgo Pandares, judge of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice; Rosalba Gil Pacheco, member of the National Electoral Council; Edward Miguel Briceno Cisneros, a Venezuelan judge; and Luis Ernesto Duenez Reyes, a Venezuelan prosecutor.
The U.K. added two entities to its Russia sanctions regime on Dec. 17, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. OFSI added United Arab Emirates-based 2Rivers DMCC and Singapore-based 2Rivers PTE LTD for their ties to the Russian energy sector.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is updating its general licenses that authorize certain payments for legal services from funds originating outside the U.S., it announced in a final rule effective Dec. 19. The rule is applicable March 12.
The U.S. sanctioned two people and one entity that it said are involved in a network helping to launder millions of dollars in illegal proceeds for the North Korean government. The designations target United Arab Emirates-based Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian, who have worked through a UAE-based front company to “facilitate money laundering and cryptocurrency conversion services” that move money to North Korea. OFAC also sanctioned UAE-based Green Alpine Trading, LLC, a front company that is a “key component of this money-laundering network.”