The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 18 placed its two new China chip export control rules on public inspection for publication in the Federal Register, which set the effective dates for both rules (see 2310170055).
The U.S. this week sanctioned 11 people, eight entities and one vessel with ties to Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs. The Treasury, Commerce and State departments, along with DOJ, also published a new advisory to alert global companies about Iran’s ballistic missile procurement activities.
The U.S. updated chip export controls announced this week will affect a number of chips marketed by Nvidia, the American semiconductor firm confirmed this week. Nvidia said it will face new license requirements for any of its integrated circuits exceeding certain performance thresholds -- including its A100, A800, H100, H800, L40, L40S and RTX 4090 -- along with any existing system that incorporates one or more of those integrated circuits, including potentially future products developed by the company.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine changed export compliance dramatically, said Howard Mendelsohn, chief client officer for Kharon, "where the onus is on industry like it’s never been before to sort of find a way to be proactive." Mendelsohn, whose firm provides risk intelligence to businesses, spoke at an OCR Services trade compliance conference Oct. 17 in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C. He said exporters have to be proactive on blocking reports and applying for licenses, and importers have to find another supplier.
The European Council moved to maintain its nuclear nonproliferation sanctions regime against Iran, the council announced. The EU reviewed the sanctions as required under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and ultimately found that since Iran had not fulfilled its commitments under the deal, the restrictions were still required, the council said Oct. 17. The decision follows a similar decision from the U.N. Security Council. The sanctions cover individuals and entities engaged in ballistic or nuclear missile activities or affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Certain sectoral sanctions are also a part of the package.
The European Parliament on Oct. 17 adopted new fisheries control rules requiring all EU fishing vessels to be monitored and their catches to be electronically reported. The measures are meant to establish "full traceability" under the EU's new fisheries control system and were adopted on a 438-146 vote, with 40 abstentions.
The German government is establishing a new agency to combat "internationally organized financial crime," dubbed the Federal Office to Combat Financial Crime, according to an unofficial translation. The agency will be an amalgamation of various different agencies' expertise, including analysis from the Financial Intelligence Unit, criminal investigations and supervision. The agency is expected to be established in 2024 and operational in 2025. The mandate of the agency will be to crack down on illegal financial flows via money laundering and sanctions evasion.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will be “migrating” to the “FedRAMP High instance of a multifactor authentication solution” in its Defense Export Control and Compliance System to improve security, the agency announced this week. DDTC said all users should log into DECCS “which will ensure that your account information and passwords are automatically synced with the new upgraded instance.”
Canada this week announced sanctions against nine Moldovan people, saying they are “Russian collaborators” with ties to sanctioned oligarchs. The country also sanctioned six television stations that have had their operating licenses revoked by Moldova’s Commission for Exceptional Situations and “actively promote and disseminate Russian disinformation” to justify Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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