CBP issued an Aug. 11 guidance on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s renewed and revised list of export restrictions on personal protective equipment (see 2008060061). The guidance highlights the restrictions and exemptions announced by FEMA, and said CBP will continue to help review controlled exports.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a U.S. person $5,000 for buying jewelry, meals, clothing, hotel rooms and other gifts for a person on the Specially Designated Nationals List. The U.S. person, who OFAC did not name, was a civilian hire stationed by the U.S. Army at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, during the violations, according to an Aug. 11 notice.
Three Republican senators threatened U.S. sanctions against a German port for helping to build Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline (see 2007150021), urging the port to stop providing “goods, services and support” for the project.” In an Aug. 5 letter to Fahrhafen Sassnitz GmbH, operator of Mukran Port, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said the port should immediately stop supporting the Russian-flagged vessels Fortuna and Akademik Cherskiy.
Five senators introduced a bill to strengthen export controls on certain unmanned aircraft less than a month after the State Department loosened them. The measure, introduced Aug. 6, would block exports of certain drones to all countries except NATO members, Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. The senators said the legislation is designed to restrict sales to hostile Middle East countries, such as Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. should continue to pursue sanctions on China and encourage allies to impose their own restrictions for the recent arrests of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, a bipartisan group of lawmakers said. In an Aug. 10 statement, commissioners of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, including CECC Chair Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., and Co-Chair Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said the United Nations Security Council should convene an “urgent meeting” to discuss Hong Kong’s so-called national security law (see 2008070039).
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Aug. 11 corrected 20 listings under its Guinea-Bissau sanctions and 14 listings under its Burma sanctions. The corrections add and delete identifying information for the listings, which remain subject to asset freezes.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued guidance on its Sudan program and Darfur sanctions and removed and revised Sudan-related FAQs. The guidance, issued Aug. 11, clarifies that U.S. people and companies are no longer subject to OFAC’s Sudanese Sanctions Regulations but may be designated under the agency’s Darfur sanctions or captured by Commerce Department export controls.
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The State Department’s 2019 emergency arms sales to Persian Gulf countries (see 1907150033 and 1907300027) did not violate export control laws, but the agency failed to “fully assess risks” the weapons could lead to “civilian casualties” and other “legal concerns,” the Office of Inspector General said in an Aug. 11 report. The report was released days after House and Senate Democratic leaders subpoenaed four State Department officials and accused the agency of stonewalling congressional oversight of the emergency transfers and the firing of former department Inspector General Steve Linick (see 2008030046).
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended six entries under its Central African Republic sanctions regime, an Aug. 10 notice said. The designations include current and former CAR government officials and militia leaders. The six people remain subject to asset freezes, it said.