Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., introduced an amendment May 25 to the Endless Frontier Act that would withhold the additional funding in the bill until the Commerce Department “completes the identification of emerging and foundational technologies as required under section 1758(a) of the Export Control Reform Act.” The Bureau of Industry and Security has identified dozens of emerging technologies but has not identified any foundational technologies (see 2104070026).
Congress and the administration can take a more active role to allow humanitarian aid to better flow to sanctioned regions in Africa, which is often hindered from receiving that aid, charitable groups and sanctions experts told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa May 25. Some of the issues lie with licenses issued by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and a slow bureaucratic process that unintentionally slows aid shipments, they said.
The U.S. National Security Council is hoping to better harmonize export controls and foreign investment restrictions across the Five Eyes alliance, an effort that will be a key aspect of President Joe Biden’s future talks with European and other allies, a senior NSC official said. The U.S. is also reviewing how government agencies use those tools to better address a rise in export control evasion tactics, the official said.
The State Department released a proposal May 26 to permanently allow employees involved in International Traffic in Arms Regulations-related activity to work remotely, a long-awaited measure that industry is expected to welcome. The rule proposes to permanently update the ITAR’s definition of a “regular employee,” which will also now include certain “contractual staff.”
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week posted presentation materials from its May 20 Defense Trade Advisory Group meeting (see 2105200061 and 2105210015). The materials include export control-related recommendations from DTAG working groups and general topics of concern from members.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has proposed that CBP be given the authority to exclude from entry into the U.S. any articles produced by a foreign firm that misappropriated a trade secret, when that theft has been proven by either a court or the International Trade Commission, under Section 337. The amendment, published May 24 in the Congressional Record, notes that the Section 337 process may not provide complete relief "because the foreign person has used or is reasonably likely to use the misappropriated trade secret in the home country of the foreign person or a third country."
U.S. and European officials condemned Belarus’ diversion of a civilian Ryanair flight this week for the purpose of arresting a journalist and called for global sanctions.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for May 17-21 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Sanctions compliance is increasingly presenting challenges to companies around the world as more countries turn to sanctions as a foreign policy tool, Baker McKenzie lawyers said. Some recent challenges include the growing emphasis on sanctions enforcement and the due diligence issues presented by countries with little publicly available information on ownership chains, the lawyers said.
David Peyman, former deputy assistant secretary of state for counter threat finance and sanctions in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, joined DLA Piper's Washington office as of counsel in the International Trade practice, the firm announced May 20. At the State Department, Peyman managed 25 sanctions programs and built the first economic sanctions targeting team. He also led the Office of Threat Finance Countermeasures, which roots out terrorist financing.