Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Petitioning to be delisted from a sanctions regime has become increasingly difficult and often lacks transparency, both in the U.S. and Canada, trade lawyers from both countries said this week. Several lawyers, including a former high-ranking senior U.S. sanctions official, said designated people often aren’t given an adequate explanation for why they were sanctioned and therefore aren’t able to fairly challenge the basis for their designation.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary denial order on Nov. 7 against seven people and three companies for orchestrating a scheme to illegally export millions of dollars worth of export-controlled dual-use electronics to Russia. BIS said the U.S.-origin items were bought by Russian procurement agents and transshipped through other countries before being delivered to Russian companies with ties to the country’s military.
The U.K.'s Export Control Joint Unit on Nov. 6 replaced and updated its open general export license for goods in support of the Turkish Aerospace Industries TF-X program. The new license replaces the revoked license and allows for the export of "software or technology for the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) TF-X Programme aircraft, also known as KAAN, from the U.K. to" Turkey and, in the case of reexports, the U.K.
Congress “must” move forward with a recently passed House bill that could lead to new sanctions on foreign ports and refineries that process or accept Iranian petroleum, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said. The House voted 342-69 to pass the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act last week (see 2311030066), and Rubio, who has introduced similar legislation in the Senate, said his chamber should do the same.
The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a proposed rule for interagency review that could lead to changes to its end-use and end-user-based export controls. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Nov. 3, could specifically amend the BIS U.S. persons controls involving military and military intelligence end uses and end users.
An Illinois-based financial services firm reached a $206,213 settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control this week after the company allowed its prepaid reward card programs to be used by people in sanctioned regions, including Iran, Syria, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. OFAC said Swift Prepaid Solutions’ lack of “comprehensive geolocation controls” led to 12,391 violations of U.S. sanctions programs.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined Forta, a U.S. synthetic fiber manufacturer, $44,750 after the company violated BIS’ antiboycott regulations. Forta voluntarily disclosed the violations, which included providing its freight forwarder ahead of a trade show in Abu Dhabi with certifications that its products weren’t made with Israeli labor or raw materials.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is planning to soon issue a rule that will offer clarifications and corrections to its recently updated export controls on advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration (see 2310170055).
The Bureau of Industry and Security and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network this week issued another set of export control evasion red flags for financial service firms along with a new key term that banks and others can include in their suspicious activity reports to FinCEN. The new term will “enable even more BIS investigative and Entity List actions against” people and companies looking to evade U.S. export controls, said Matthew Axelrod, BIS’ top export enforcement official.