Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Aug. 30 - Sept.3 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Singapore's National Environment Agency will impose import and export controls on lead paints under its Environmental Protection and Management Act starting Jan. 3, 20222, the agency said. It will bar the manufacture, import and sale of paints beyond 90 ppm total lead concentration, save for zinc-based anti-corrosion paints and copper-based anti-fouling paints. Existing stocks of these paints will allowed to be sold locally until depletion, NEA said. The export and reexport of these paints will require a Hazardous Substance License. Labels will be required for zinc-based anti-corrosion paints and copper-based anti-fouling paints with a total lead count of 90 ppm for local sale and restricted to industrial uses only.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will update its website Sept. 7, 6-6:30 a.m. EDT, potentially causing disruptions, DDTC said. The agency said users should refresh their browser if they experience technical issues during that time. The update won’t affect users working in Defense Export Control and Compliance System applications.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is seeking comments by Nov. 8 on an information collection related to its Rough Diamonds Control Regulations, the agency said in a notice. The collection involves the ultimate consignee listed on a customs form for trade in rough diamonds.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Iranian intelligence operatives who targeted a U.S. citizen and Iranian dissidents to silence their criticisms of the Iranian government, OFAC said Sept. 3. The agency designated senior intelligence official Alireza Shahvaroghi Farahani, who led a failed kidnapping attempt against a U.S. journalist and human rights activist. Others involved in the plot were intelligence operatives Mahmoud Khazein, Kiya Sadeghi and Omid Noori, all of whom were also sanctioned. OFAC said they researched options to abduct the journalist in New York City and transport him to Venezuela on “military-style speedboats.” The group also targeted dissidents in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United Arab Emirates, OFAC said.
The Commerce Department’s delay in issuing emerging and foundational technology controls may not be hampering U.S. foreign investment reviews as much as some lawmakers have suggested, trade lawyers said. Although the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. doesn’t yet have a clear set of Commerce-defined critical technologies to target, that has not slowed down CFIUS from catching non-notified deals in critical technology sectors, the lawyers said in interviews, especially those involving semiconductors (see 2109010051).
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added an individual and an entity to its Myanmar sanctions list for perpetuating human rights violations in the country, including the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim minority population, it said in a Sept. 2 notice. OFSI added arms dealer Tay Za and the Htoo Group of Companies that he owns to the sanctions regime, subjecting them to an asset freeze and travel ban.
The G-7's Financial Action Task Force released its Japan Mutual Evaluation Report 2021 along with an executive summary that gives a synopsis of the anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing (AML/CFT) measures imposed by Japan since November 2019. The report also broke down Japan's compliance with the FATF's 40 recommendations and the effectiveness of the nation's AML/CFT system, along with a fresh set of recommendations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 2 removed four entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List. Three are Balkans related: Jovan Djogo, Momcilo Krajisnik and Dragan Nikolic. The fourth is Cuba-related, the vessel Hermann. OFAC also revised two Cuba-related entries for the vessels Sand Swan and Tifon. The agency didn’t immediately provide more information on the changes.
The European Commission will hold its annual export control forum Dec. 8, the commission announced Sept. 2, providing European Union member states, industry, academia and others an opportunity to discuss export control policies. The forum will include a discussion on the EU’s new dual-use control regulations (see 2105100013) and other export control developments globally.