The European Parliament is calling for greater sanctions on Belarus following the forced landing of a Ryanair flight and subsequent arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega. While 88 individuals, including the current president, and seven entities are listed under the EU's Belarus sanctions regime, the EU called for a “fourth package” with sectoral sanctions including a “ban on imports of oil products, potash fertilisers, metal products and wood and wood products,” a June 10 resolution said. The Parliament also underscored the need to sanction all relevant state-run enterprises helping the Belarusian regime through foreign exchange revenue and to ramp up efforts to combat Belarusian cigarette smuggling, which is a large source of revenue for the current regime, the resolution said.
Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez, a dual U.S.-Mexico citizen and daughter of the leader of Mexican drug trafficking group Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, the Department of Justice said in a June 11 news release. Oseguera Gonzalez “engaged in financial dealings” with six Mexican companies that had been designated by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. She owned two OFAC-designated companies, J&P Advertising and JJGON S.P.R., and was a high-ranking officer at four other listed businesses. Oseguera Gonzalez's father, CJNG leader Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, and her uncle, Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, the leader of the Los Cuinis cartel, also were sanctioned by OFAC.
Slack Technologies, an American software company that operates a business collaboration app, said it may have violated U.S. sanctions laws. The company “recently” submitted an initial voluntary self-disclosure to the Office of Foreign Assets Control after discovering customer accounts that may have used its products and services “for the benefit” of sanctioned people, Slack said in a June 3 Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Commerce Department published its spring 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including two new mentions of emerging technology rules and new export controls on certain camera systems.
European and U.S. former government officials said they think the U.S. and European countries will find much common ground in efforts to make trade work for working people, but that getting on the same page with China will be a challenge.
The European Union General Court annulled the sanctions listing of Sayed Shamsuddin Borborudi, the former deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, in a June 9 judgment. Borborudi was originally listed under the EU's Iranian nuclear sanctions regime for his position with AEOI and his work with Iran's nuclear program since 2002. The general court said he stopped working for AEOI in 2013, and the European Council failed to show evidence of his continued involvement in Iran's nuclear program. His prior work did not justify a continued listing, the court said.
The State Department on June 10 released its annual report to Congress of authorized exports of defense goods and services to foreign countries and international organizations during the 2020 fiscal year. The report covers direct commercial sales of licensed items for permanent export under the Arms Export Control Act and includes export statistics for each country and organization, including aggregate dollar values of the exports, their quantities and data on the actual shipments of those licensed exports.
The Environmental Protection Agency will allow submission of Toxic Substances Control Act notifications for chemical exports, it said in a notice. Beginning June 14, the agency will allow submissions required under TSCA Section 12(b) through its Central Data Exchange document submission system, it said. Export notifications will still be allowed in hard-copy form.
The U.S. lifted sanctions against three former Iranian government officials and two companies last week but said they were unrelated to U.S. efforts to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal. The delistings were the “result of a verified change in status or behavior on the part of the sanctioned parties,” the State Department said June 10. The agency said the people and companies previously helped buy, sell, transport or market Iranian petrochemical products, but sanctions are no longer warranted. “These actions demonstrate our commitment to lifting sanctions in the event of a change in status or behavior by sanctioned persons,” Secretary Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The Treasury Department is dedicating “significant” resources to sanctioning international fentanyl traffickers and is committed to maintaining strong sanctions against the Venezuela government for human rights violations, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a House Appropriations subcommittee June 10.