The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new frequently asked question to clarify that two Venezuela-related general licenses haven’t expired. In FAQ 933, issued Oct. 1, OFAC said both General License 7C and 20B are authorized for an 18-month period, which “renews automatically for an additional 18 months on the first day of each month.” License 7C authorizes certain transactions with PDV Holding and CITGO Holding. License 20B authorizes transactions by certain international organizations with the Venezuelan government.
The U.S. decision to sell Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles to Australia risks undermining export restrictions deployed by the multilateral Missile Technology Control Regime, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said Oct. 1. The MTCR requires all members to exercise a strong presumption of denial for exports of especially lethal missile systems, including the Tomahawk missiles, the report said, and the U.S. sale “runs the risk of further undermining” the denial policy. The institute said the decision will likely be a “source of tension and disagreement” among members during the MTCR’s meeting in Russia this week. The White House didn't comment. The State Department, which regulates the exports of a range of lethal weapons, declined to comment because the sale hasn't yet been formally notified to Congress.
While too early to declare a success, the U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council has set both sides on a path toward tangible progress on more export controls and investment screening collaboration, experts said. During the inaugural TTC meeting last week, the U.S. and EU agreed to develop “convergent” export controls and share more information to catch malign foreign investments (see 2109290083), which could result in meaningful changes within the next year, the experts said.
Daniel Kahn, acting deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Criminal Division, is rejoining Davis Polk's Washington, D.C., office as a partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations practice, the firm announced. Kahn will work on issues relating to criminal and regulatory investigations, along with civil and criminal trials. At DOJ, Kahn most recently supervised the Fraud Section and Appellate Section. Before that, Kahn was acting chief of the Fraud Section and chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit, where he oversaw involved FCPA and sanctions violations, commodities and securities fraud and money laundering, among other things, Davis Polk said.
The European Union extended its COVID-19 vaccine export transparency and authorization system until Dec. 31 and intends no further extensions, the European Commission said Sept. 30. The system was intended to ensure that vaccine manufacturers in Europe fulfill their contractual obligations with the EU and applies only to companies with which the EU has negotiated an advance purchase agreement. The controls require these companies to notify their member state authorities of their intention to export COVID-19 vaccines. Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, the commission will use a new monitoring system that will give company-specific and timely vaccine export data, the commission said. This will ensure transparency without export controls, it said.
The State Department rescinded its statutory debarment of Dennis Haag after receiving a reinstatement request, the agency said in a notice released Sept. 30. The agency debarred Haag in 2018 for violating the Arms Export Control Act but determined the debarment should no longer apply after conducting a “thorough review of the circumstances surrounding his conviction.” The State Department determined that Haag has taken “appropriate steps to address the causes of the violations sufficient to warrant rescission of his statutory debarment.”
Oleg Nikitin, Russian national and owner of St. Petersburg-based energy company KS Engineering, was sentenced to federal prison for scheming to evade U.S. sanctions, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia said. Nikitin was sentenced to 28 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations. Nikitin was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and is subject to deportation when his sentence ends. KSE, along with Italian company GVA International Oil and Gas Services, will serve five years' probation, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., and 10 other House Republicans introduced a bill Sept. 28 that requires the administration to impose sanctions on foreign buyers of rare earth minerals -- but the bill explicitly exempts sanctions on the import of those minerals into the U.S. “The Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has given the Taliban control of one of the largest deposits of rare earth minerals in the world, which jeopardizes our national security,” Steube said. “Banning the Taliban and China from profiting off of rare earth minerals is commonsense." He said the bill is designed to prevent Chinese firms from buying rare earths and then processing them and selling them to U.S. buyers.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 30 issued a new frequently asked question to clarify certain sanctions exemptions related to Iran’s Imam Reza Holy Shrine. While the State Department has urged people not to travel to Iran, OFAC will exempt transactions related to “religious pilgrimages” by U.S. people to the shrine and the “acquisition of goods or services for personal use while traveling.” The agency also exempts certain donations to the shrine, including clothing, food, medicine and other humanitarian goods that are “intended to be used to alleviate human suffering.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security has faced challenges applying some of its new export control rules during the last year, including its military end-use and end-user regulations and broader semiconductor-related policies toward China, a senior BIS official said. Matt Borman, BIS’s deputy assistant secretary for export administration, said he recognizes the rules may also be causing compliance challenges for industry, and the agency is considering more guidance.