The Treasury Department is seeking comments on an information collection relating to the Rough Diamonds Control Regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the agency said in a notice released Nov. 23. The collection includes information on certain customs and reporting requirements for shipments of rough diamonds. Comments are due Dec. 24.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Nov. 15-19 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week updated and issued a host of new guidance to address industry questions related to debarments, disclosures and export controls violations. The 17 new FAQs, published about three weeks after the agency said it was preparing new guidance at the request of the Defense Trade Advisory Group, address a range of compliance issues, among them what should be included in voluntary disclosures, how the agency treats those disclosures, how they affect licensing, and differences between a debarment rescission and reinstatement of export privileges.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will add 27 entities to the Entity List for illegally selling technology to sanctioned countries, for supporting China’s military modernization efforts or for contributing to Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programs. The Entity List additions include laboratories and companies operating in the semiconductor, microelectronics and machinery sectors located in China, Japan, Pakistan and Singapore, and are partly aimed at preventing U.S. emerging technologies from being used for China's quantum computing efforts, the Commerce Department said. The agency will also add one entity to its military end-user list under Russia.
The European Union opened registration for its 2021 Export Control Forum, the European Commission and the Slovenian Presidency of the European Council said. Inviting members from EU member states, industry, academia and civil society to participate in the Dec. 8 forum in Brussels, the commission said the event will focus on EU and global export control developments along with the first steps for the implementation of the new dual-use regulation that took effect Sept. 9.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Ismatullah Khalozai, a financial facilitator for the Islamic State’s Khorasan Province, also known as ISIS-K, the agency said Nov. 22. Khalozai has supported the operations of the ISIS-K by “facilitating international financial transactions that fund human trafficking networks,” OFAC said. Khalozai also helped move foreign fighters to “escalate tensions in Afghanistan and the region.” OFAC also sanctioned three other as leaders of ISIS-K but didn’t immediately provide more information on their designations. The individuals are: Sultan Aziz Azam, Maulawi Rajab and Sanaullah Ghafari.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control Nov. 22 deleted a range of entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List and updated other entries. A Treasury spokesperson said some sanctions were removed because the individuals died, while updates include new date of birth information, aliases and “other data corrections.” The deleted and updated entries have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Pakistan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Syria and others.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has substantially increased its sanctions advisory output in recent years, a trend likely to continue, according to Castellum, a technology company that operates an automated compliance screening service. OFAC issued 10 sanctions advisories in the past two years, including four this year, compared with nine advisories in the previous eight years, the company said Nov. 15. “This emphasis on advisories, across both democratic and republican administrations, shows that this public-facing tool is here to stay and will be used more frequently,” Castellum said. The company also said the increased number of sanctions could allow OFAC to justify larger penalties for sanctions violations, “because those that are subject to enforcement actions will have had significant public warning.” OFAC most recently issued a guidance to help the virtual currency industry navigate U.S. sanctions (see 2110150069).
The Biden administration should impose sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and the company behind the gas pipeline project, European security experts said. Several called the U.S.’s May sanctions waiver (see 2105200055) a mistake and urged Congress to keep pushing the administration to impose sanctions before the pipeline is operational.
Christian Ford, former deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice Office of Legal Policy, has joined DLA Piper as a partner in the Washington, D.C.-based litigation practice, the firm announced. Previously serving in multiple roles at DOJ and as counsel at the Defense Department, Ford oversaw a portfolio that included national security, law enforcement, terrorism and violent crime prevention, the firm said. He also worked as a prosecutor in DOJ's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, managing investigations affecting national security.