Canada this week launched its first steps to seize and pursue the forfeiture of sanctioned Russian assets. This is the “first time that Canada is using its new authorities that allow the government to pursue the seizure of assets belonging to sanctioned persons,” said Canada, which will look to seize $26 million from Granite Capital Holdings Ltd., a company owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Canada said it's the first G-7 country “to implement such measures, demonstrating its strong commitment to Ukraine, its reconstruction and holding accountable those who have profited from and supported President [Vladimir] Putin’s regime.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Senate this week unveiled its fiscal year 2023 government spending package, which includes additional funding for key export control, sanctions and trade priorities. The package also includes another round of emergency defense aid for Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week announced what it said are "historic steps" to implement new humantiarian-related authrotizations across its sanctions programs in an effort to better allow the flow of aid to sanctioned countries. The move builds on a U.N. Security Council decision earlier this month that established a humanitarian carve-out across sanctions regimes, allowing nongovernmental organizations, banks and others a general license for certain aid-related transactions involving sanctioned jurisdictions (see 2212120054). Treasury said the U.S. is "the first country in the world" to implement the U.N. carveout in its own borders.
The U.K. this week amended one entry under its Belarus sanctions regime. The listing for Mikail Safarbekovich Gutseriev was updated to include revised and new identifying information, including the spelling of his name, his nationality and the reasoning for his listing.
The EU added 141 people and 49 entities to its Russia sanctions regime as part of its ninth package of restrictions following Moscow's war in Ukraine, the European Council announced.
The Automated Export System soon will incorporate new response code 5C2 for when a commodity line in AES is reported with U.S. Munitions List Category XXI, but a commodity jurisdiction number is not reported, CBP said in a recent CSMS message. The new response message, which will be a fatal error, will be available in certification for testing Jan. 3 and “available in Production at a later date,” CBP said. “A follow-up message will announce when the messages will be active in Certification.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published its Illicit Drug Trade Sanctions Regulations. The regulations implement Executive Order 14059, “Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade,” issued on Dec. 15, 2021. OFAC said it intends to supplement the regulations with a more comprehensive set, which may include additional guidance and general licenses. The regulations are in effect Dec. 20.
The Bureau of Industry and Security granted an export license for U.S. chip company Nexcel Electronic Technology (NETI) after the company told BIS that new restrictions on China would force NETI to shut down and fire all its employees. NETI, which provides certain semiconductor services to Chinese companies, was granted a four-year license to continue its operations, the company’s lawyer and trade consultant told Export Compliance Daily.
China officially requested dispute consultations with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization Dec. 15 over American export controls on certain semiconductors, the WTO announced. China, which announced the move earlier in the week (see 2212120061), said the restrictions violate Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT), Article XXII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, Article 8 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures and Article 64.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.