The U.K. updated six open general export licenses, the Export Control Joint Unit announced in a March 1 notice. Three OGELs -- export after exhibition or demonstration military goods, export after repair replacement under warranty military goods, and exports under the U.S.-U.K. defense trade cooperation treaty -- were updated to take into account changes to the military list, the ECJU said. Two OGELs -- military goods and technology to India and technology for military goods -- also were updated to show changes in the military list and to fix typographical errors. Another OGEL, military goods A400M collaborative program, was updated to allow two additional export customer destinations.
The State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System registration and licensing applications will be unavailable to users from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST March 2 for scheduled system maintenance. Users should ensure any work in progress is saved before the down time period.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recently reintroduced several bills that could lead to sanctions against China and North Korea:
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 24-16 this week to advance a bill that would grant the Biden administration new authorities to ban U.S. transactions with TikTok. It also would require the president to impose certain sanctions on entities or people that transfer U.S. personal data to entities under the influence of the Chinese government. The bill, which was advanced along party lines, must still be passed by the full House and Senate before it’s sent for President Joe Biden’s signature.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published two sets of previously issued general licenses under its Venezuela sanctions regime. The full text of each license appears in the respective notice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three entities and two people “illicitly generating revenue” for North Korea. The designations target Chilsong Trading Corp., a North Korean government trading company, and Korea Paekho Trading Corp., a government-controlled company that conducts art and construction projects for “regimes” throughout the Middle East and Africa. OFAC also sanctioned Hwang Kil Su, Pak Hwa Song and their Democratic Republic of the Congo-based company, Congo Aconde SARL, which earns revenue from construction and statue-building projects with local governments.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Indian tobacco manufacturer $332,500 this week for violating U.S. sanctions against North Korea. Mumbai-based Godfrey Phillips India Limited (GPI), which didn’t voluntarily disclose the violations, settled with OFAC after the company used U.S. banks to receive payments for indirect tobacco shipments to North Korea, OFAC said, and used third-party companies to try to hide the payments’ connection to North Korea.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 37 entities to the Entity List for a range of reasons, including for supplying controlled items to Iran, supporting China’s military modernization efforts, illegally providing items to Russia and contributing to surveillance efforts in China and Myanmar. The entities -- located in Belarus, Myanmar, China, Pakistan, Russia and Taiwan -- will be subject to a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations with varying license application review policies. BIS also modified 10 existing Chinese entries on the Entity List. The additions and changes take effect March 2.
The U.K. corrected one entry under its Russia sanctions regime, in a Feb. 28 notice. The listing for Matthias Artur Warnig was amended to reflect his ties to President Vladimir Putin and his role as the Rosneft board's independent vice chairman, and remove identifying information of a different person.
The EU extended until Feb. 28, 2024, its restrictions on Belarus in response to its support for the war in Ukraine, the European Council announced. The council said it reached this decision after conducting its annual review of the restrictions and "considering the persistent gravity of the domestic situation in the country and Belarus' ongoing involvement" in the war. The sanctions apply to 195 individuals and 34 entities and include targeted trade sanctions.