Drawback

The Office of Foreign Assets Control is amending the maximum civil penalty amount for certain sanctions violations to reflect inflation adjustments for its civil monetary penalties, it said in a notice. The changes, effective March 17, increase the maximum penalties for violating the Trading With the Enemy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and the Clean Diamond Trade Act. OFAC also increased the maximum civil penalties for certain record-keeping violations and made several technical changes to “consolidate or shorten” certain citations in OFAC’s regulations.

The Bureau of Industry and Security's January rule on foreign military intelligence agencies took effect March 16 but the agency may consider revising the scope, according to a BIS spokesperson. The rule, which was issued in January under the Trump administration, was captured as part of the Biden administration’s regulatory freeze as BIS decided whether to follow through with the new export restrictions (see 2103090038). Although the restrictions took effect, an agency spokesperson said March 16 that it will continue to review feedback to determine whether the changes are “warranted.”

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for March 8-12 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The U.S. should form a strong global technology alliance and promote better interagency cooperation on technology policies to better compete with China and counter its dominance at standards setting bodies, former government officials said. A modern national technology strategy must start with the White House and Congress, the former officials and experts said, which should embrace some form of industrial policy and pour resources into protecting critical technologies.

Nate Bolin joined DLA Piper's Litigation and Regulatory practice as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced March 8. Bolin, who comes to the firm from Faegre Drinker, previously served as an international trade specialist at the International Trade Administration. He was recently reappointed to the Defense Trade Advisory Group for the 2020-2022 session. Bolin brings experience of advising clients on U.S. trade remedies, export controls, economic sanctions and Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. matters.

The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has until Dec. 31, 2021, to complete its export process of allocated quantities of Red Sanders wood, India's Director General of Foreign Trade announced in a March 11 notice. The valuable timber, endemic to southern India, is an endangered species, thus warranting its export controls. The notice grants the Andhra Pradesh governing body to the end of the year to “finalize the modalities, including allocation of quantities to their authorized entities for export of the Red Sanders wood.”

The United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of its mission in South Sudan, which includes monitoring the country's human rights violations and recommending sanctions, the UNSC said March 12. The council urged South Sudan to allow imports of humanitarian goods and cease human rights abuses, saying it will “consider all appropriate measures” against violators. It also urged UN member states to continue to “prevent the supply, sale or transfer of arms and related” items to South Sudan.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will be meeting with some top Chinese officials March 18, but the trade war will not be front and center, he told reporters at a White House press conference March 12. A reporter asked what China would have to do for the U.S. to reduce or lift tariffs, or loosen export controls. “I don’t expect that, for example, the phase one trade deal is going to be a major topic of conversation next week,” Sullivan said; instead, it will be more about geopolitical issues and human rights, not details on tariffs and export controls. “But we will communicate that the United States is going to take steps, in terms of what we do on technology, to ensure that our technology is not being used in ways that are inimical to our values or adverse to our security. We will communicate that message at a broad level,” he said. He added that before the U.S. can begin negotiating on trade, there's more work to do with allies, “to come up with a common approach, a joint approach, before we go sit down point by point with the Chinese government on these issues.”

The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a Cleveland process controls and instrument manufacturer more than $215,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said in a March 15 notice. The company, UniControl, Inc., exported goods to European companies despite knowing they would ultimately be sent to Iran, OFAC said. The agency said the company failed to “act on multiple apparent warning signs.”

Following a review of the European Union's sanctions regime on nine individuals in Egypt, the European Council removed their names from its sanctions list, the EC announced on March 12. The individuals originally were added to the sanctions' regime for their roles in the misappropriation of Egyptian state funds, the EC said. Having been found that their actions warranted their placement on the sanctions list by the council in 2011, the individuals were subject to an asset freeze and forbidden from doing business with EU nationals and legal entities. Following the most recent review, the EC determined the sanctions regime on these nine individuals had served its purpose.