The Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing a mandatory survey for hundreds of U.S. space companies, suppliers and researchers to collect data on supply chains used by the U.S. space industrial base, the agency said this week. The effort -- which is a partnership among BIS, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- will help the agencies “identify the structure and interdependencies” of the space industrial base, especially those that work with NASA or NOAA.
The State Department updated several forms in its Defense Export Control and Compliance System last week to add “new voluntary disclosure field questions,” the agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Control said. The updates to forms DS-6004 (Block 10), DS-4294 (Block 11) and DSP-85 (Block 9) will allow industry to report a disclosure previously filed with DDTC’s compliance division when submitting one of the listed licenses.
Shipments of export-controlled technologies from the U.S. and its allies to Russia have dropped nearly 50% by value since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, said Thea Kendler, the Bureau of Industry and Security’s assistant secretary for export administration. Kendler, speaking during a conference last week hosted by the Association of Women in International Trade, touted the impact of export restrictions imposed by Japan, the U.K., South Korea and other nations she said are part of the Global Export Control Coalition (GECC), adding that the controls have led to the “severe deterioration” of Russia’s ability to sustain its military.
The U.S. government, dissatisfied with the narrowing of a Mexican ban on genetically modified corn (see 2302150026), has asked for technical consultations under the USMCA's sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter. A formal dispute can't be initiated without first taking this step.
The Bureau of Industry and Security approved $23 billion worth of prospective exports involving Chinese companies on the Entity List from January through March 2022, representing about 79% of all license applications it received for those companies during that time period. The data, recently released by House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, shows an “unacceptable” amount of approvals, the lawmaker said.
The European Commission recently updated its frequently asked questions page on specialized financial messaging services and how they intersect with sanctions. The commission updated the answer to the first FAQ -- "What are the banks subject to the prohibition to provide specialized financial messaging services?" -- and amended the answer to the second FAQ, which deals with Russian banks using "other means of communication" to "compensate" for restrictions placed on their ability to use financial messaging services, such as SWIFT.
Two U.S. citizens were arrested March 2 for their role in a yearslong scheme to avoid U.S. export controls on aviation-related technology headed for Russia, DOJ announced.
The Environmental Protection Agency released a final rule March 3 setting new significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 29 chemical substances subject to Premanufacture Notices (PMNs). As a result of the SNURs, persons planning to manufacture, import or process any of the chemical substances for an activity designated as a significant new use by this rule are required to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. Importers of chemicals subject to these SNURs will need to certify their compliance with the SNUR requirements, and exporters of these chemical substances will now become subject to export notification requirements. The final rule takes effect May 5. The SNURs cover the following:
The U.N. Security Council last week amended one Democratic Republic of the Congo-related entry on its sanctions list. The update revises identifying and other information for Taganda Bosco, the former military commander for a political armed militia in the DRC who was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Court in 2021.
The U.S. last week sanctioned five Russian officials and one "expert witness" involved in the arrest and imprisonment of Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza. The designations came after lawmakers, including Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, asked the administration to impose Magnitsky human rights sanctions against Russia for the arrest of Kara-Murza, who has spoken against the war in Ukraine (see 2209270021 and 2301260046).