The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of former Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, along with three Sinaloa Cartel members and two Mexico-based entities for having ties to the cartel. OFAC said Guzman Lopez oversees “many aspects” of the Los Chapitos drug trafficking empire, which controls the Sinaloa Cartel. Raymundo Perez Uribe leads a supplier network used by the cartel to obtain precursor chemicals; Saul Paez Lopez coordinates illegal drug shipments; and Mario Esteban Ogazon Sedano buys precursor chemicals and operates illegal drug laboratories. The agency also sanctioned Sumilab, S.A. de C.V., a Sinaloa-based chemical and lab equipment company, and Urbanizacion, Inmobiliaria y Construccion de Obras, S.A. de C., a Sinaloa-based real estate business owned by Ogazon Sedano.
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Members of the European Parliament are pushing for tighter enforcement of export controls surrounding spyware products, saying several countries -- including Cyprus, Greece and Bulgaria -- are routinely flouting the bloc’s export restrictions. They also criticized the European Commission for not doing enough to hold member states accountable for potentially violating the EU’s dual-use export controls (see 2105100013).
The Commerce Department again renewed a temporary export denial order for Mahan Airways because the airline continues to violate the order and the Export Administration Regulations. Mahan Airways has been on the banned list since 2008, and Commerce in its May 5 notice said the Iranian airline has continued to fly to and from Iran from Russia and China in violation of U.S. export controls. It also said the airline in April reportedly began direct flights from Iran to Minsk, Belarus, and also has helped repair planes belonging to Russia's Aeroflot, which is also subject to a temporary denial order (see 2303300013). The latest renewal for Mahan is for 180 days from May 5.
The EU is considering new sanctions on Chinese companies for supporting Russia’s military, the Financial Times reported May 7. The sanctions, which are expected to be discussed by EU member states this week, could target seven Chinese companies for selling equipment to Moscow that could be used in weapons, the report said. The list of companies reportedly includes two companies from mainland China, 3HC Semiconductors and King-Pai Technology, and five based in Hong Kong: Sinno Electronics, Sigma Technology, Asia Pacific Links, Tordan Industry and Alpha Trading Investments. Some of the companies are already subject to U.S. restrictions, including 3HC, which was added to the Commerce Department's Entity List in April for supplying Russia's military (see 2304120039). All EU member states would have to agree to the new measures before they take effect.
Although Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company last year secured a one-year authorization to continue certain China-related activities despite the Commerce Department’s October chip controls, the company has “no assurance that we will be able to continue securing such general authorization on a timely basis or at all,” it said in an April Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The Bureau of Industry and Security recently said it’s working with some companies to allow them to continue certain activities authorized by the waivers after they expire (see 2302240008).
Although the U.S. continues to impose new sanctions and export controls against Russia, the Commerce Department’s $300 million penalty assigned to Seagate Technologies last month signals that the U.S. is increasingly prioritizing enforcement, particularly against China, law firms said this month. They also said the fine shows that Commerce is looking to strictly enforce its foreign direct product rule restrictions, even for violations of the rule that may not be obvious.
A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with three recent sanctions decisions from the EU under its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaeda, Syria and Iran sanctions regimes, the European Council said.
The European Commission released a guidance note May 3 pertaining to the implementation of "firewalls" that allow EU entities controlled by sanctioned individuals and entities to trade in agricultural products, including wheat and fertilizers. The firewall "removes the control by the designated person so that the EU entity’s business operations in the trade in agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers can continue, while keeping the funds and economic resources owned by the designated person frozen." The guidance discusses the requirements of a firewall, including "entities for which a firewall may be established," as well as the implementation of a firewall. The guidance breaks down firewalls by legislation and operators and the exchange of information concerning cross-border situations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed an authorization for certain Russia-related energy transactions. General License 8G, which replaced GL 8F, authorizes certain transactions with several Russian energy companies through 12:01 a.m. EDT Nov. 1. The license was previously scheduled to expire May 16.