The U.K. made took sanctions actions June 14, amending or correcting entries under its Iran (Nuclear), Russia, and ISIL and al-Qaida sanctions regimes. Under the Iran sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the entry for Parvis Fatah, an officer of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps. Under the Russia sanctions regime, OFSI amended 39 entries and corrected an additional three, still subjecting all entries to an asset freeze. The 39 entries consist of 23 individuals and 16 entities and include military officials, businesspeople and media figures. The three corrected entries are for Ilya Kiva, former member of the Ukrainian parliament; Maxim Alekseevich Parshin, member of the Donetsk People's Council; and Ooo Volga Group. For the ISIL sanctions list, OFSI amended listing information for Mochammad Achwan, Taha Ibrahim Abdallah Bakr Al Khuwayt, Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman Al-Salbi, Mounir Ben Dhaou Ben Brahim Ben Helal, Muhammad Sholeh Ibrahim and Aris Sumarsono.
The Swiss Federal Council announced June 10 that it will adopt the EU's sixth Russian sanctions package, which includes a ban on Russian oil imports. The sanctions package also designates over 100 Russian and Belarusian individuals and entities, making the Swiss sanctions list identical to the EU's; removes four Russian and Belarusian banks from SWIFT, the interbank payment and messaging system; and expands the export ban on goods that could aid Russia's military.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Stanislav Shevchuk and Alexander Zhuchkovsky, two "key supporters" of the ethnically motivated violent extremist group known as the Russian Imperial Movement, according to a June 15 notice.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo discussed increasing export control collaboration with South Korea in an introductory meeting this week with South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin. Raimondo “expressed her interest in continued coordination” with South Korea on the export restrictions, Commerce said, which have been imposed on many areas of Russia’s economy, including its military, technology and luxury goods sectors. Commerce in March added South Korea to the list of countries that have imposed similar export controls against Russia and are excluded from certain license requirements under the U.S.’s Russia-related foreign direct product rules (see 2203040075).
The EU needs to modernize and revamp its regulations surrounding intangible technology transfers, which lack sufficient export control guidance, said Magnus Nordeus, vice chair of Digital Europe, a trade policy group. He also said EU companies want more predictability from U.S. export controls, which can be especially difficult to manage for small- and medium-sized businesses.
The Census Bureau is considering a new pilot program that could test the elimination of some export reporting requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico, said Omari Wooden, Census’ assistant division chief for trade outreach and regulations. Officials have so far crafted two proposals that are being discussed “internally,” Wooden said, and would first seek public comment before implementing a potential pilot.
The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn’t given up on a rule to clarify how U.S. companies can participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List, a senior BIS official said this week. Despite yearslong clamoring for the clarification from technology associations and companies, the rule is facing a lengthy internal review process not only from other agencies but also from different bureaus within the Commerce Department, said Hillary Hess, BIS’s regulatory policy director.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 16 suspended the export privileges of a Belarusian airline for violating U.S. export controls against Belarus. The agency issued a 180-day temporary denial order for Belavia Belarusian Airlines, the country’s state-owned national airline, BIS said in a denial order. The order bans Belavia from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has crafted a new proposal for an outbound investment screening mechanism that will ensure the U.S. is “not ceding its manufacturing power in industries critical to our economic and national security.” The “refined proposal,” negotiated during the congressional conference for the Bipartisan Innovation Act, will be “robust” but also will address industry concerns, said the lawmakers, including Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Bob Casey, D-Pa., who originally proposed a version of the bill last year (see 2201140038). “We look forward to meaningful engagement in writing from stakeholders as we work to secure this bill in the conference report,” the lawmakers said.
The U.K. released guidance on how it collects data on its Russia sanctions regime. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office published sections on the sanctions' legislation, data collected "post invasion," individual designations, estimates of oligarchs' net worths, oligarchs' family members and sanctions on entities.