European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent sanctions decision from the European Council under the Syria sanctions regime. The council said it exempted for six months restrictions for humanitarian work in light of the recent earthquakes that devastated the country. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Armenia also imposed the exemption.
The U.K. removed Irish journalist Brian McDonald from its Russia sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation also amended information for Igor Viktorovich Makarov, president of ARETI International Group, and struck a duplicate entry for Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant.
The U.K. added seven people to its Iran human rights sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said. OFSI added Yahya Ala'oddini, Jamal Babamoradi, Ahmad Karimi, Ali Asghar Nourouzi and Seyyed Aminollah Emami Tabatabai, all of whom are directors of the board of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cooperative Foundation; Alireza Heydarnia, commander of the IRGC for the Alborz province; and Ahmed Zulqadr, IRGC commander.
The EU added eight people and one entity to its Iran sanctions regime, the European Council announced. The individuals are members of the judiciary responsible for issuing death sentences in "unfair trials and for the torturing of convicts," conservative clerics, a member of the Iranian Parliament, spokespeople for the Parliament's cultural commission and the Headquarters for Enjoining Right and Forbidding Evil, and an official with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The listed entity is the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution. The sanctions on Iran now cover 204 people and 34 entities.
Taiwan chip exports to China and Hong Kong decreased for a fourth consecutive month in February and fell 31.3% compared with the same period last year, the worst decline since 2009, Bloomberg reported March 19. The report said China’s market share of Taiwanese integrated circuit exports dropped to the lowest level since February 2019, and Taiwan’s global chip exports also decreased 17.3% in February compared with the same period a year ago. Exports to the U.S., however, increased 22.3%. The U.S. recently introduced a new set of export controls on semiconductor-related items and activities destined for or involving China (see 2210070049).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published a previously issued Russia sanctions determination and general licenses. One notice includes a previously issued Russia-related sector determination published under April 15, 2021, executive order, and the others include previously issued general licenses under the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations.
Trade lawyers are expecting a sharp increase in DOJ export control and sanctions prosecutions in the coming months as the agency’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section undergoes a hiring spree, and several law firms said the increased attention on sanctions violations may cause some companies to bolster their compliance programs.
South Korea will withdraw its World Trade Organization complaint over Japan's export controls on fluorinated polymide, hydrogen fluoride and resist following Japan's finding that South Korea enhanced its export control authority, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's announced March 16. METI said it will relax controls over the exports of the three items to South Korea and remind domestic companies it is their responsibility to check the end-users of their products. METI made the announcement following an export control policy dialogue with South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, held March 14-16. The issue stemmed from a years old Japan-South Korea export control dispute, which included Japan removing South Korea from its list of trusted trading partners in 2019 (see 1907010020, 1908080026 and 1910240032).
The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Ukraine can defend a $3 billion Eurobond lawsuit on the grounds it was forced to take on the debt in 2013 due to threats from Russia. The Law Debenture Trust Corp., which is incorporated in England and Wales, sued on Russia's behalf. Ukraine said it need not pay the loan because it was procured by duress stemming from illegal pressure and threats, including sanctions.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recently introduced a bill that would prevent the president and State Department from removing sanctions against Cuba until it certifies the country is respecting human rights and meeting other requirements. The Fighting Oppression until the Reign of Castro Ends Act, announced by Rubio in a news release last week along with two other Cuba-related bills, would require the U.S. to keep Cuba on its list of state sponsors of terrorism unless it certifies that Cuba has established an independent judiciary, respects free speech, has released political prisoners and has met other requirements under the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996.