The Bureau of Industry and Security last week released a list of commercial and private aircraft that have violated U.S. export controls by flying into Russia and which require a license for “any form of service.” The agency said it will impose penalties, jail time or loss of export privileges for any company or person that violates the Export Administration Regulations by providing “any form of service” to the aircraft without a required BIS license.
Companies are increasingly choosing to voluntarily file with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to avoid being caught up in CFIUS’s non-notified transaction process, CFIUS lawyers and experts said. That trend, combined with faster CFIUS clearances, could mean an increase in CFIUS filings this year, they said.
The Census Bureau issued March 15 guidance on recent changes to the Automated Export System that accommodate new export controls on cybersecurity items (see 2110200036). AES now includes license code 64 for newly created License Exception Authorized Cybersecurity Exports, which authorizes exports of certain cybersecurity items. The guidance includes information on how to use the new license code and which Export Control Classification Numbers, modes of transportation and Export Information Codes are eligible. The license exception, which the Bureau of Industry and Security announced in October along with new export controls for certain cybersecurity items, took effect March 7 (see 2201110025).
The U.S., in combination with Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the European Commission, launched the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) multilateral task force. In a March 16 press release, the Treasury Department said that the members are committed to taking concrete actions, including sanctions, asset freezing, and civil and criminal asset seizure, and criminal prosecution. The task force was first announced during the Joint Statement on Further Restrictive Economic Measures on Feb. 26. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the task force will "galvanize coordinated efforts to freeze and seize assets of these individuals in jurisdictions around the world and deny safe haven for their ill-gotten gains.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated one individual and nine entities as part of its efforts to combat illicit gold trade. On March 17, OFAC sanctioned Alain Goetz, a Belgian businessman who operates the African Gold Refinery in Uganda as well as companies in the UAE that receive illicit gold from mines in regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that are controlled by armed groups involved in destabilizing activities in the Congo. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said that "[c]onflict gold provides the largest source of revenue to armed groups in eastern DRC where they control mines and exploit miners,” in a press statement.
Even as the European Council agreed on the approach to a carbon border adjustment mechanism, a lawmaker in the EU Parliament said that the fact that CBAM did not make it out of the trade committee showed how thorny it will be to get a law passed to hike tariffs on imports that do not come from countries that are fighting climate change as strongly as the EU.
As the U.S. continues to tighten Russia export controls (see 2203110056), more companies may ask customers to sign end-use statements as a way to document their due diligence, said Marwa Hassoun, a trade lawyer with ArentFox Schiff. Businesses must also make sure they are taking certain minimum compliance steps to comply with U.S. sanctions, said ArentFox Schiff sanctions lawyer Matthew Tuchband, including more regular screening of restricted party lists.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a list of about 100 commercial and private aircraft that have violated U.S. export controls by flying into Russia, including planes operated by the country’s main airline operators and one owned by a Russian oligarch. BIS said it will impose penalties, jail time or revoke export privileges for any company or person that violates the Export Administration Regulations by providing “any form of service” to the aircraft without a required BIS license. The list includes planes owned by Russian airlines Aeroflot, AirBridgeCargo and Utair and Russian businessman Roman Abramovich.
Republican senators criticized President Joe Biden's choices not to levy sanctions on Russia before last month's invasion of Ukraine, and questioned why the sanctions now aren't tougher, during a press conference March 16 at the Capitol.
A group of countries aligned with the EU's third wave of sanctions on Russia and Belarus following their full-scale assault on Ukraine. On March 9, the European Council added 160 individuals to the list of parties subject to the sanctions. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine also imposed that decision, the council said. Those same countries further implemented the council's decisions to restrict the export of maritime navigation goods and technology to Russia, expand the list of legal individuals and entities subject to the ban on investment services and transferable securities, and impose additional sectoral measures against the Belarusian financial sector.