The Bureau of Industry and Security is inching closer toward potentially publishing a final rule that could revise export licensing requirements for certain cameras, systems or related components. The rule, sent for interagency review Oct. 31, will “better align controls with technological and commercial developments,” BIS said. The rule has been on the BIS regulatory agenda for several years (see 2307170038, 2206270007 and 2112210044).
A recent ruling by a U.K. appellate court “sent the sanctions legal community into a bit of a tailspin” after it appeared to pave the way for the government to treat every Russian public and private entity as a sanctioned party, said Daniel Martin, a sanctions lawyer with HFW. Although the U.K. has since clarified that its sanctions aren’t necessarily meant to apply to every Russian company, Martin said questions remain, including whether banks now will be even less willing to handle Russia-related transactions, whether U.K. lawyers will continue to be able to participate in Russian-related proceedings, and whether similar logic could apply to U.K. sanctions against other countries.
The U.S. this week unsealed two indictments charging multiple people in schemes to deliver export-controlled dual-use goods to Russia. In both cases, DOJ charged Russian nationals and others with using Brooklyn-based companies to buy goods on behalf of sanctioned end-users or others connected to Russia's military.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 13 entities from Russia and Uzbekistan to its Entity List for helping Russia procure and develop unmanned drones. The entities, listed in a final rule effective Nov. 2, are subject to license requirements for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and licenses will be reviewed under a policy of denial, apart from certain food and medicine. The entities are also subject to licensing restrictions under the BIS Russia/Belarus-Military End User Foreign Direct Product rule.
The Biden administration should warn Mexico that it will be hit with sanctions if the country continues to “circumvent U.S. policy” by selling oil to Cuba, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a post on Medium last week. Rubio cited shipping data in a Reuters report that showed Mexico had surpassed Russia in providing oil to Cuba, although Mexico has said the oil is for humanitarian purposes.
Senior Treasury Department officials this week met with humanitarian groups, non-governmental organizations and others in Europe and the U.S. to stress that transactions involving Gaza-related aid aren’t prohibited by U.S. sanctions. Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson met with groups in Brussels and Washington, respectively, to hear about the “challenges in delivering aid in Gaza,” Treasury said. The officials shared the agency’s “commitment to ensuring that U.S. sanctions do not stand in the way of legitimate humanitarian activities.”
The U.S., the U.K. and Canada issued new sanctions this week against Myanmar, targeting various entities and officials with ties to the country’s military regime and its purchase of weapons.
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.
Forwarders should think carefully before they file an export license application on behalf of a customer, a service that could make the forwarder liable in case of an export violation, said Tirrell McKnight, an official with the Bureau of Industry and Security's western regional office. McKnight suggested export application services should only be offered by forwarders who are confident in their export compliance, know their customers well and “want to take on that liability.”
Trade ministers from Japan, the U.S., the EU, the U.K., France, Canada, Germany and Italy said they will work to reach an agreement on World Trade Organization reform "with the view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024." The binding appellate level of dispute settlement at the WTO has been defunct since late 2019, because the U.S. blocked all appointments to the appellate body.