The Commerce Department published its spring 2020 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security. The agenda includes a new mention of a rule to control “software” for the operation of “automated nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers” capable of designing and building “functional genetic elements from digital sequence data.” BIS said the software can be used in the production of pathogens and toxins, with the potential for those to make their way into biological weapons if export controls on the software are lacking. The notice of proposed rulemaking, part of BIS’ effort to control emerging and foundational technologies (see 2005190052), will request industry comments about how the controls might affect “legitimate commercial or scientific applications.” BIS said it aims to issue the proposed rule this month.
Guidepost Solutions added Robert Roach, previously chief global compliance officer at New York University, as senior adviser, the company said in a news release. “Roach will help develop compliance, risk management and monitoring programs for both domestic and international organizations,” the company said. “He brings particular expertise in several complex regulatory areas including export control and trade sanctions laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other international anti-bribery laws, higher education and research compliance laws, equal opportunity laws, supply chain ethics and international fair labor standards compliance.”
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on July 10 removed five entries and amended one entry under four sanctions regimes. The U.K. removed from its sanctions lists Ri Pyong Chol, North Korea; Fahd Jasim Al-Furayj, Syria; Col. Mas’ud Abdulhafiz, Libya; and Robert Kibelisa and Lambert Mende, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The U.K. also revised an entry for Ahmed Al-Jarroucheh under its Syria sanctions.
The United Kingdom issued a July 9 guidance on its Somalia sanctions regime, which will take effect 11 p.m. Dec. 31. The guidance contains information on the sanctions, how companies can comply with the regulations and related sanctions documents.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed sanctions from Yemane Gebreab, an Eritrea government official and presidential adviser. The change took effect July 10 and removes Gebreab from OFAC’s Somalia sanctions.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls rescinded its policy for exports of firearms sound suppressors and will instead handle those shipments “in a manner consistent” with other U.S. Munitions List controlled technologies, DDTC said July 10. DDTC’s policy previously called for “enhanced guidelines” for approving export licenses for suppressors and restricted exports to “only official end users such as government or military entities,” the agency said.
The European Union is considering countermeasures, including export restrictions, in response to Beijing’s interference in Hong Kong’s autonomy, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said during a July 13 press conference. The measures will include a “package” of EU-wide restrictions, although some member states may announce their own national measures in the “coming days,” Borrell said.
China announced sanctions on U.S. lawmakers and a congressional commission in response to U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. China’s sanctions, which include travel restrictions, target Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.; U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback; and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said July 13. A ministry spokesperson said the U.S. has “no right and no cause to interfere” in Xinjiang and urged the U.S. to rescind its sanctions or it will issue a “further response.”
President Trump said he signed an executive order that ends Hong Kong’s preferential trade treatment and increases export restrictions on sensitive technologies. Trump also said he signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which authorizes sanctions against Chinese authorities and foreign banks associated with passing Hong Kong’s so-called national security law.
The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade issued a July 10 guidance on export licenses for a range of U.K. goods after the U.K. officially leaves the European Union on Jan. 1, 2021. The guidance contains links to licenses and further information for exporting animals, agricultural products, chemicals, waste, diamonds and controlled goods. The guidance also contains a section detailing how the U.K.’s new sanctions regime may affect exports.