Apple was fined about $465,000 for violations of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations after it hosted, sold and “facilitated the transfer” of software applications and content belonging to a sanctioned company, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Nov. 25 notice. Apple allegedly dealt in “the property and interests” of SIS d.o.o., a Slovenian software company added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List in 2015.
Export Compliance Daily is providing this recap of sanctions and export controls enforcement over the past year. Intended to assist export compliance professionals, lawyers and others in the export world stay up to date with current enforcement trends, this guide includes summaries of prominent enforcement actions by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Controls, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, and the Justice Department since Export Compliance Daily began publishing in March 2019.
In the Dec. 3-4 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 4 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Japan’s minister of Economy, Trade and Industry urged World Trade Organization members to find a solution before the dispute settlement body ceases to function Dec. 10, according to an unofficial translation of a Dec. 3 press conference. The minister called the body “one of the pillars … [of] the multilateral free trade system.”
Huawei is urging suppliers to move operations offshore to avoid U.S. sanctions and export controls, which would violate U.S. law, according to a Dec. 3 Reuters report. The Chinese technology giant has been “openly advocating” for companies to escape the jurisdiction of U.S. controls so sales can continue, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Reuters. “Anybody who does move the product out specifically to avoid the sanction ... that’s a violation of U.S. law,” Ross said. “So here you have Huawei encouraging American suppliers to violate the law.”
The State Department sanctioned Alejandro Sinibaldi, Guatemala’s former minister of communications, infrastructure, and housing, for “significant corruption,” according to a Dec. 3 press release. The State Department is also sanctioning family members Maria Jose Saravia Mendoza, Alejandro Sinibaldi Saravia and his two minor children.
The Dec. 3 House passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019 will have serious repercussions for U.S.-China trade talks if the bill becomes law, a China Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson threatened on Dec. 4. H.R. 649 and the companion S. 178 that cleared the Senate in September demand tough U.S. sanctions on China over reports of government-run detention centers imprisoning millions of Muslim-minority Chinese citizens in Xinjiang.
Newly recommended export-related initiatives (see 1912020048), including an effort by CBP to reduce minor “parking ticket” violations, will better allow U.S. enforcement agencies to target serious export violators, Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee members said during a Dec. 4 meeting. CBP’s Export Modernization Working Group hopes fewer minor penalties will clear up enforcement officials to do more large-scale work. “It should help the enforcement side to have time to actually get the bad guys,” said Brenda Barnes, a COAC member and part of the EMWG.
Wiley Rein promoted Lori Scheetz, previously of counsel, to partner in the firm's international trade practice, it said in a news release. Scheetz works on “export compliance and national security matters, with a focus on U.S. export controls and economic sanctions,” according to her bio. Derick Holt, previously an associate, was promoted to of counsel, the firm said. Holt works on “antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, export controls, and sanctions compliance program,” according to his bio.