The U.S. hasn’t ruled out imposing sanctions against Russia for its potential involvement in the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline last month, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters June 2. While President Joe Biden has said he doesn’t believe the Russian government was involved in the attack, he said the people behind the attack are likely living in Russia. “We’re not taking options off of the table,” Psaki said when asked whether the U.S. was considering more sanctions. Psaki said Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin may discuss the matter when they meet later this month. She also said the U.S. is “doing our own review of a range of options.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control renewed a general license authorizing transactions between certain companies and Petroleos de Venezuela SA, OFAC said June 1. General License No. 8H, which replaces No. 8G (see 2011170015), authorizes transactions between PdVSA and Chevron, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International, with certain restrictions, through 12:01 a.m. EST Dec. 1. The license was scheduled to expire June 3.
Canada released its 2020 report on military goods exports this week, detailing changes last year to export control policies and providing statistics for a range of export information, including country data and permit licensing information. Canada said it “slightly improved” permit processing times in 2020 and listed Saudi Arabia as its largest non-U.S. export destination. Canada also said it denied 58 applications for exports of military, dual-use and strategic goods or technologies in 2020, a significant increase from the previous five years, when it had denied fewer than 10 permits per year. Forty of the 58 denied permits were for dual-use exports to China or Hong Kong.
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A congressional commission said the Commerce Department has “failed” to carry out its export control responsibilities over emerging and foundational technologies, which is hindering the work of other government bodies and allowing some sensitive dual-use technologies to be freely exported from the U.S. The commission said Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which is in charge of the export control effort, has taken “limited action to strengthen or introduce new controls” since its 2018 congressional mandate and should look to other agencies to help with the process.
Dave Stetson, former senior lawyer at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined Steptoe & Johnson's International Trade and Regulatory Compliance Group as a partner in the New York office, the firm announced in a June 1 news release. Stetson previously served as the lead sanctions lawyer for Goldman Sachs' global business lines. At OFAC, Stetson was an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Chief Counsel, where he conducted reviews for OFAC licenses and advised on the drafting of sanctions statutes, executive orders and regulations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for a North Carolina man after he illegally exported firearms and ammunition to Honduras, BIS said in a May 27 order. Chris Rodriguez was convicted Oct. 18, 2019, for violating the Arms Export Control Act when he tried to ship 27 firearms and “hundreds” of rounds of ammunition without the required State Department licenses. Rodriguez was sentenced to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $100 fine. BIS also revoked his export privileges for seven years from the date of his conviction, and revoked any BIS-issued licenses in which he had an interest at the time of his conviction.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. laser manufacturer $350,000 for illegally exporting laser systems to China, according to a May 28 order. The company, New York-based Photonics Industries International, exported more than 20 “RGH-1064-30 picosecond laser systems” to China in 2014 and failed to apply for the required licenses, which violated the Export Administration Regulations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a Dubai company $25,000 for violating the Export Administration Regulations when it exported “powder grade nickel” to the United Arab Emirates, according to a May 28 order. The company, Alsima Middle East General Trading, submitted false and misleading statements to BIS in its license application for the export, the agency said.
The United Nations Security Council renewed its arms embargo and asset freezes against South Sudan for another year, the council said May 28. The UNSC renewed the embargo and sanctions until May 31, 2022, but it said it is ready to “review” the measures, including the “progressive lifting” of the embargo, due to the “progress achieved” by the country. It extended the mandate for the South Sudan panel of experts until July 1, 2022.