Tarif Akhras, founder of the Akhras Group and chairman of Syria's Homs Chamber of Commerce, was removed from the United Kingdom's Syrian sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Notice said in a financial sanctions notice Aug. 12. The delisting notice provided no explanation for his removal.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated six total listings under their Belarus and Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regimes Aug. 12, changing four and two listings, respectively, in two financial sanctions notices. The altered listings under the Belarus sanctions scheme were for Mikhail Safarbekovich Gutseriev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and his son, Viktor Aliaksandravich Lukashenko, and Igor Petrovich Sergeenko. The changes under the global anti-corruption sanctions were for Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas and Alex Nain Saab Moran.
The European Union's blocking statute should be revised due to the increasing complexity and proliferation of extra-territorial sanctions and the bloc's "strong exposure to certain third countries," the European Commission suggested in a recently published impact assessment of the statute. The blocking regulations are meant to protect EU businesses from extra-territorial sanctions, including those imposed by the U.S., which are increasingly leading to global sanctions compliance issues in Europe (see 2108020030 and 2002190038).
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for Matteo Taerri for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, BIS said in an Aug. 10 order. Taerri was convicted June 4, 2020, after illegally trying to export a U.S.-origin Prostak filter module to Iran without the required license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Taerri was sentenced to time served, three years of supervised release and issued a $200 fine. BIS denied Taerri’s export privileges for 10 years from the date of conviction.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, is asking the Bureau of Industry and Security for information on Huawei export licenses. Wicker said BIS recently held an “informal briefing” with Wicker’s staff in which they withheld certain licensing information “based on confidentiality concerns,” but Wicker believes the information should have been provided. “The information requested neither focused on any particular company's compliance nor could have resulted in a breach of confidentiality for a company under investigation,” the senator said in an Aug. 11 letter to BIS.
The Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a fact sheet this week highlighting the various exemptions and authorizations available for companies, people and exporters providing telecommunications goods and services to Cuba. The five-page guidance covers OFAC general licenses and BIS license exceptions and comes as the Biden administration tries to increase sanctions pressure on the Cuban government for its crackdown on pro-democracy protests in recent weeks (see 2107300063).
Russia imposed sanctions on a “proportionate” number of British citizens in response to the United Kingdom's anti-corruption sanctions listings on Russian individuals (see 2104270017), the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Aug. 9, according to an unofficial translation. The sanctions include a travel ban, but the Russian government did not specify how many or which individuals are sanctioned. “We consider these groundless attacks by London to be a clear demonstration of the true intentions of the country's leadership with regard to further building its course in the Russian direction, namely, the desire to conduct destructive activities on the bilateral track,” the foreign ministry said. “We state that after leaving the [European Union], Great Britain stepped up even more in building up sanctions tools, including for demonstrating leadership in the campaign of denigrating Russia.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for three people for illegally exporting defense goods without licenses, according to Aug. 9 orders.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 10 completed its interagency review of a proposed rule that would impose export controls on certain additive manufacturing equipment used to print “energetic materials” and related software and technology (see 2107270004). The rule, first received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs July 23, would classify the equipment as an emerging technology and would likely be proposed for multilateral control at the Wassenaar Arrangement. BIS plans to request public comments on the rule before the controls are finalized.
The Biden administration will maintain a Trump-era policy that loosened export restrictions on certain unmanned drones, a decision that drew applause from the aerospace defense industry last year but sparked concern from some lawmakers.