RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- CBP is being pushed to move faster on its electronic export manifest after delays have pushed back its full release to at least next year, said Jim Swanson, director of the agency’s Cargo and Security Controls Division. He pointed to a “variety of reasons” CBP hasn’t yet been able to mandate the use of EEM, including “limited participation” in the pilot program. “I can tell you right now I have a lot of internal pressure from various parts of the government asking us why don't we have this up and running,” Swanson said Oct. 15 during the Western Cargo Conference.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- The Commerce Department and CBP will soon deploy a new feature in the Automated Export System to automatically warn filers if they are exporting a controlled item without a license, a BIS official said. The agencies hope to launch the feature -- which should help exporters, freight forwarders and carriers better conduct due diligence -- in the next few months, said Richard Sylvestri, a senior export administration analyst in the Bureau of Industry and Security's Western Regional Office.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published its 2020-21 annual review, discussing changes to U.K. sanctions made following the nation's departure from the European Union. Key statistics include that 34 autonomous U.K. sanctions regimes entered into force under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018; 278 new designated individuals were added to the consolidated sanctions list during fiscal year 2020-21; 48 individuals and entities were delisted during the period of review; and 43 new specific licenses were issued by OFSI. Also, £12.2 billion (equivalent to nearly $16.8 billion) in frozen funds were reported to be held by U.K. firms as of September 2020.
Industry should expect a “surge” in corporate enforcement from the Department of Justice now that officials have had time to transition from the previous administration, particularly in sanctions and export control areas, Crowell & Moring said Oct. 12. The firm expects a “heavy focus” on trade violations involving Iran, China, North Korea and Russia, and continued focus on cryptocurrencies, including enforcement that targets illegal ransomware activities and payments (see 2110130038). The firm also noted that the U.S. has devoted more resources to foreign bribery enforcement, including recently assigning a squad of FBI agents to work full time in the DOJ’s Fraud Section, which will help the agency’s investigative efforts.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and six Republican co-sponsors introduced a bill in the House last week that would direct the U.S. to impose sanctions on anyone who provides support to someone in Cuba's military, security sector or intelligence sector. The administration could ask for a waiver for 180 days of these sanctions for national security reasons.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control released a guidance aimed to help the "virtual currency industry navigate and comply with OFAC sanctions," it said Oct. 15. The guide includes a set of frequently asked questions and case studies about virtual currencies and sanctions.
A recent sanctions enforcement case highlighted the various export compliance hurdles associated with sales through overseas distributors, which is becoming one of the “greatest areas of export compliance risk,” Williams Mullen said in an Oct. 13 alert. In the case, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Texas-based NewTek sold products to third-country distributors despite having knowledge those products were intended for an Iran-based reseller (see 2109100007), which ultimately led to sanctions violations.
A multinational semiconductor company may have violated U.S. export controls when it transacted with two Chinese technology companies on the Entity List, according to its October Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Arteris, which is headquartered in California, said it maintained a business “relationship” with HiSilicon Technologies Co. and Chongxin Bada Technology Development Co., Ltd., which may have resulted in “inadvertent” violations of the Export Administration Regulations. The Bureau of Industry and Security added HiSilicon to the Entity List in 2019 as an affiliate of Huawei (see 1905160072) and added Bada in 2020 (see 2008260038).
The United Kingdom updated the physical address and email address of the Enforcement of Strategic Exports, Sanctions and Intellectual Property Rights office, the Department for International Trade said. The office is responsible for receiving and processing voluntary disclosures relating to already exported goods that should have received an export license. The address is 14 Westfield Ave., Stratford, London E20 1HZ; the email address is michael.halstead@hmrc.gov.uk.
United Kingdom-based nongovernmental organization Redress has published a template for anyone seeking to submit Magnitsky sanctions evidence to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. NGOs, lawyers, human rights defenders, activists, journalists and academics may use the template to suggest designations under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, the group said.