The European Council announced that a group of third countries aligned with the bloc's sanctions regime on ISIL and al-Qaida and with the February sanctions on Myanmar due to the recent military coup in that country. In May 11 and May 12 news releases, the EU said North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine and Moldova aligned themselves with the Myanmar sanctions. It said the same group, minus Norway and with the additions of Armenia and Georgia, also levied sanctions against ISIL and al-Qaida and the persons, groups, undertakings and entities associated with them.
The State Department designated Yu Hui, a former Chinese government official, for human rights violations, the agency said May 12. The State Department announced the designation along with its release of the 2020 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. The agency said Yu is the former office director of the so-called Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned seven people and two entities for drug trafficking, the agency said May 12. The sanctions target Jesus Gonzalez Penuelas and Gonzalez Penuelas Drug Trafficking Organization (Gonzalez Penuelas DTO), which is “among the largest sources of raw opium gum and heroin” in northern Mexico. OFAC also sanctioned six people and one entity for their ties to Gonzalez Penuelas DTO: Ignacio and Wilfrido Gonzalez Penuelas, Efrain Mendivil Figueroa, Adelmo Nunez Molina, and Raul and Juana Payan Meraz, and construction company City Plaza, Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable.
The European Commission published guidance May 11 for individual and business compliance with recent sanctions on Myanmar put in place due to the February military coup and subsequent protest crackdown. The sanctions are composed of financial sanctions, a travel ban and limited sectoral sanctions that include an embargo on exports of arms equipment that may be used for internal repression, dual-use goods for use by the military and Border Guard Police in Myanmar, and equipment for monitoring communications. The guidance details who must comply with the provisions, what the terms of the provisions stipulate, how to determine ownership of sanctioned activity and exceptions to the sanctions.
A group of Republican senators urged U.S. businesses to continue to stay out of the Iranian market even if the U.S. reenters the Iranian nuclear deal, saying any sanctions relief will be short-lived. The lawmakers said that relief will be “severely limited” if Republicans win back majorities in the House and Senate and if the U.S. elects a Republican president in 2024. They also criticized the Biden administration’s plan to reenter the deal, calling the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action a “deeply flawed” agreement.
Iran is allowing banks and other licensed parties to use cryptocurrencies to pay for imports in a bid to avoid international financial controls and global sanctions, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 11. The country previously allowed only its central bank to pay for imports by using cryptocurrencies, but that authorization was recently extended to “selected financial institutions,” the report said. Iran is also drafting a bill to provide “regulatory clarity” on crypto-related activities.
Myanmar's military has built an economy largely centered around a limited number of institutions created by its Defense Ministry, cementing the military's role at the center of the Southeast Asian state's economic dealings. A new report from Bloomberg takes a look at how the military class skirted Western sanctions. Driving the military's continued hold on the economy are two Defense Ministry-founded and -operated conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Co. Ltd. and Myanmar Economic Corp. The two companies employ thousands of civilian and military personnel, control various domestic industries and offer a variety of essential goods for the citizenry, Bloomberg reported. According to analysts, this structure means the wave of sanctions relating to the military takeover of the country in February have a minimal effect.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 11 designated seven people connected to Hezbollah and its financial firm Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH). The sanctions target Ibrahim Ali Daher, the chief of Hezbollah’s Central Finance Unit, and AQAH officials Ahmad Mohamad Yazbeck, Abbas Hassan Gharib, Wahid Mahmud Subayti, Mostafa Habib Harb, Ezzat Youssef Akar and Hasan Chehadeh Othman.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for May 3-7 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A U.S. district court judge dismissed a case involving the seizure of a multimillion-dollar jet after Texas officials failed to prove the jet violated export regulations or was involved in a money-laundering scheme. Texas police seized the British Aerospace BAE 125 Series jet last year on tax evasion and money-laundering charges and suggested the owners violated the Export Administration Regulations, but a judge said police had no evidence or probable cause.