The EPA should exempt certain export activities from new proposed reporting requirements under a significant new use rule for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), U.S. trade groups told the agency in recent comments. If EPA doesn’t exempt those activities, the proposed rule could disrupt chemical supply chains and other sectors that use PFAS, including the energy, instrument and machinery manufacturing industries, the groups said.
The U.S. this week announced new Russia-related trade restrictions, adding 28 entities to the Commerce Department’s Entity List and more than 100 entries to the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List. The measures target people and companies either operating in Russia, aiding the country’s war against Ukraine or helping Moscow evade sanctions.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation renewed until Oct. 28 its legal services General License under the Russia sanctions regime (see 2210310020), the EU Sanctions blog reported this week. The renewed license, which was set to expire April 28, will again cap legal fees at $621,000, including value-added taxes, and will cap legal expenses at 5% of legal fees up to $31,000. The renewed license, which the blog said was outlined in a recent "letter to stakeholders" from the government, also clarifies that it is applicable in certain cases in which the "fees and / or expenses may exceed the legal fees and / or expenses caps." The license will not authorize legal fees for "defamation and similar cases," the blog said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week renewed the temporary denial order for Russian airline Ural Airlines, whose export privileges were suspended for 180 days in October after BIS said it violated U.S. export controls by flying multiple aircraft to Russia without required licenses (see 2210170009). BIS said Ural continues to fly planes in violation of the Export Administration Regulations, including flights within Russia and to and from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The agency renewed the order for another 180 days from April 10.
Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would direct the administration to impose sanctions on any foreign person who "knowingly engaged in significant corruption in Mexico," whether through bribery, corruption in government contracts, money laundering, intimidation of governmental or nongovernmental corruption investigators, or involvement in the "production, sale, or distribution of illicit fentanyl or fentanyl analogs." The text of the bill, released April 10, said the president would have the flexibility not to impose sanctions if the sanctions are deemed harmful to U.S. national security interests.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published three previously issued general licenses under its Libyan Sanctions Regulations. The notice includes the full text of each license.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week added one entry to its Specially Designated Nationals List for counter-terrorism reasons and updated two other entries. Sanctions now apply to Sami Mahmud Mohammed al-Uraydi. OFAC didn’t immediately provide more information and directed questions to the State Department. A State Department spokesperson didn’t comment.
About 10% of critical raw materials, as measured by value, faced export restrictions in the last decade, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development -- and the use of restrictions grew five-fold in the 2017-2019 period, compared with the two-year period 10 years earlier. Export taxes are the most frequent restriction, the authors said, adding: "This may be related to the fact that, under WTO rules, quantitative restrictions on exports are generally prohibited while export taxes are not."
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The White House this week announced a new “whole-of-government approach” to tackle illegal fentanyl trafficking, including plans to impose more sanctions against drug traffickers and prevent them from accessing American raw materials and technology.