The U.K. published a notice Nov. 29 advising industry about revised export license "undertakings" and a reminder about the expiration of "previous undertaking templates." The notice said that when using an open individual export license, exporters need to "obtain a completed OIEL consignee undertaking from each consignee." When using open general export licenses related to military goods, software and technology, exporters "need to obtain a completed OGEL consignee undertaking for each consignee, as per the terms and conditions of the license," the U.K. added. Applications for either a standard individual export license or a standard individual trade control license must "attach either an end user undertaking or stockist undertaking (EUU or SU) as one of the supporting documents," the notice said.
The State Department is seeking comments on an information collection related to technology security and clearance plans, screening records and nondisclosure agreements. These procedures help “prevent diversion to any destination, entity, or for purposes other than those authorized by the applicable export license or other authorization” for an item subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Comments on the information collection are due by Dec 30.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls on Nov. 29 released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The July through September notices feature arms sales to numerous countries, including Canada, Italy, Qatar, the U.K. and the United Arab Emirates.
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As the U.S. tries to convince allies to adopt similar export controls against China (see 2210270047 and 2210070049), some trading partners have voiced concerns over the U.S.’s strategy, saying they would rather have worked on crafting restrictions alongside the U.S. as opposed to having controls forced upon them, a Commerce Department official said.
The European Council Nov. 28 added sanctions violations to its list of "EU crimes." The move comes amid the EU's bevy of sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The council said "it is essential that these measures are fully implemented," with listing sanctions violations as an EU crime the first of two steps to ensure harmonized sanctions enforcement across the bloc, the council said.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of the primary movers behind the Chips Act, told an audience that more domains need policymakers' attention so that they don't wake up to find that China has become dominant in an important emerging technology. He noted that before becoming a politician, he "was in the telecommunication space," and said that realizing that China is dominating 5G with two heavily subsidized champion companies was the "final wake-up call" that engagement and deeper trade with China is not the right way to go.
President Joe Biden signed a memorandum this week stating that the administration will use sanctions, as well as other penalties, to respond to “conflict-related sexual violence” (CRSV). The White House said it will look to designate perpetrators of sexual violence crimes associated with conflicts and give those designations “equal consideration alongside other serious human rights abuses.”
The Treasury Department fined U.S. crypto exchange Kraken $362,158.70 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, the agency said this week. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Kraken, also known as Payward, exported services to users who “appeared to be” in Iran and allows them to conduct virtual currency transactions on Kraken’s platform. The violations stemmed from Kraken’s "failure to timely implement appropriate geolocation tools, including an automated [internet protocol] address blocking system," OFAC said.
The U.S. will allow Chevron to resume certain oil activities in Venezuela, giving the California-based energy company a “limited” license to pump oil in the sanctioned country for the first time in years. The license, which the White House believes will have a minimal impact on Venezuela's oil shipments, was issued in an effort to support the newly restarted negotiations between President Nicolas Maduro’s regime and the country’s opposition party, the Treasury Department said. It also comes amid opposition from U.S. Republicans, who warned the administration that a license would only offer the Maduro regime sanctions relief and undermine prospects for the return of democracy to Venezuela (see 2211020032, 2210280032 and 2210060014).