The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control does not adequately report on the money it and partner agencies spend related to sanctions against drug traffickers, leading to potentially inaccurate estimates and a lack of transparency when reporting expenditures, the Government Accountability Office said. Although OFAC reports to Congress on the resources and personnel it uses when imposing Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act sanctions, it provides “limited guidance” to partner agencies on how to fulfill those same reporting requirements, the GAO said. Administration officials also said it is sometimes “impossible” to determine whether the sanctions are working.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 13-17 in case you missed them.
The Satellite Industry Association named Kirsten Shumway of Boeing chair of its export control working group, it said in a press release. SIA also named as its treasurer Ross Vincenti, who oversees “legal matters along with export and trade compliance” at Intelsat.
The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade amended 14 open general export licenses and one open general transshipment license, and revoked the OGEL for Turkey, according to a Jan. 17 notice. The amendments followed changes to the European Union’s dual-use export control list (see 1910210031)
A German court sentenced a Russian citizen to prison for illegally exporting military technology to Russia, according to a Jan. 9 report from Deutsche Welle. The citizen, identified as Vladamir D., was sentenced to seven years in prison after violating European Union sanctions by selling about $2 million worth of goods to “military recipients in Russia,” the report said. The goods are used for “military missile-related technology,” the report said, and included two “hot isostatic presses,” which are used in space-related technology. The man was also contracted to export 33 pounds of “decaborane chemicals” to a “military recipient” in Russia, the report said, and successfully sent an undisclosed amount. Authorities said the man “forged documents and used fake recipients” to evade Germany’s export controls, according to Deutsche Welle.
China’s General Administration of Customs launched a “Smart Customs” initiative to incorporate “new-generation technologies to achieve smarter customs control,” according to a Jan. 16 press release. The initiative aims to better connect “all parties in the international supply chain,” the press release said.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Hizballah to its terrorism and terrorist financing sanctions list, according to a Jan. 17 notice. FSI also amended an entry for “Hizballah Military Wing.”
The State Department announced sanctions against Hassan Shahvarpour, a brigadier general for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, for human rights violations, the agency announced Jan. 17. Brian Hook, the State Department's special representative for Iran, said during a Jan. 17 press conference that the designation was the result of a tip the agency received from its Rewards for Justice Program (see 1911080020). Hook said Iranians have sent the agency more than 88,000 tips. “We will continue to hold more regime officials responsible for human rights violations,” Hook said. “We call on all nations to join our lead, particularly by sanctioning Iranian officials for human rights violations.”
The State Department issued a list of materials that constitute “raw or semi-finished metals” under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, according to a notice. The list includes more than 60 types of metals. The IFCA expands the scope of sanctions on Iranian energy and shipping sectors as well as a range of ports.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has done little to define the broad scope of the Iranian executive order issued earlier this month that expanded sanctions authority for the Treasury and State departments, according to trade lawyers. The order (see 2001100050) -- which authorized both primary and secondary sanctions against Iran’s construction, mining, manufacturing and textiles sectors -- did not define the scope of the Iranian sectors that may be subject to sanctions, and OFAC has yet to release guidance. OFAC did, however, issue a frequently asked question that provided a 90-day wind-down period (see 2001160011).