Venezuela said it is “not intimidated” by recent U.S. designations against its airline and plans to ignore the sanctions by more than doubling its international destinations, according to an unofficial translation of a Feb. 12 report from Venezolana de Television, a state-owned news outlet. Even before U.S. sanctions were announced against the Venezuelan airline and its fleet of more than 35 planes (see 2002070041), the country said it received warnings from other countries that they would no longer supply the fleet with fuel, the report said. But Venezuela said its planes can fly up to 14 hours “without needing to be supplied at another airport that is not in national territory.” The report added that the country is working on manufacturing “the first aircraft on Venezuelan soil” and wants to add hundreds of planes.
Ukraine recently revoked all of its special economic sanctions imposed by the country’s Department of Economy, Trade and Agriculture before Feb. 7, according to a Feb. 7 post from Baker McKenzie, referencing a notice from Ukraine. The move, which will lift sanctions on about 27,000 companies, will take effect March 6, the post said. The sanctions removals do not affect sanctions issued by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended its entry for Seka Baluku under designations related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a Feb. 13 notice. Baluku, leader of the Allied Democratic Forces, a Uganda-based terrorist organization, is still subject to an asset freeze. He was sanctioned by the U.K. and the United Nations Security Council earlier this month (see 2002070010).
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security asked for an 8% boost in funding for the 2021 fiscal year to increase export control compliance and enforcement, bolster initiatives to counter China, and to better identify emerging and foundational technologies. BIS’s request for a $10 million budget increase, submitted to Congress last week, comes as the agency plans to roll out a series of export controls on sensitive technologies (see 1912160032), which will increase its involvement in the Trump administration's effort to sustain the U.S.'s technological advantage over China. BIS specifically asked for just over $1 million and five new positions to help it control emerging and foundational technologies and enforce those controls.
California-based Alpha and Omega Semiconductor is being investigated by the Justice Department for export control violations relating to shipments to Huawei, the company said in a Feb. 5 press release. The company said it has been ordered by the Commerce Department to stop all shipments to Huawei and is working with the agency to “resolve this issue.” The semiconductor company has an export control compliance program in place and is committed “to comply fully” with U.S. export laws, but said it expects revenue hits due to penalties “incurred in connection with the investigation” and by the “Huawei shipment interruption.”
The State Department announced penalties on foreign entities for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act, the agency said in a notice. The entities transferred items subject to multilateral control lists -- such as the Wassenaar Arrangement -- that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production. The entities mentioned in the notice include companies based in China, Iraq, Russia and Turkey and are barred from purchasing items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act. In addition, the State Department will suspend any current export licenses used by the companies; State will bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations; and government agencies are barred from entering into procurement contracts with them. The measures took effect Feb. 3.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation renewed the designations for three entries under its terrorist asset-freezing regime, according to a Feb. 12 notice. The entries are: Hazan Izz-Al-Din, Abdelkarim Al-Nasser and Ibrahim Al-Yacoub.
There are “significant gaps” in private sector knowledge on North Korea and Iran sanctions compliance and implementation, according to a Feb. 6 report by the Royal United Services Institute and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists. The report, based on more than 350 responses to a survey sent to the finance industry, shows that large, international banks have a greater grasp of sanctions compliance than local and national banks, which are more often “being exploited” by proliferators. The report also said that U.S. banks are most vulnerable to proliferation risks from Iran and that “few banks” consult the United Nations Panel of Experts reports on North Korea.
Traders who use the “batch submission process” to send license information to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls need to receive the latest version of the client software from OCR Services before the Defense Export Control and Compliance System is launched, the DDTC said Feb. 13. The updated client version contains “necessary revisions” for submitting in batch, the DDTC said. DECCS will launch Feb. 18 (see 2002040060).
The Pentagon will “likely” support new U.S. restrictions on foreign sales to Huawei, a reversal of its objection to a proposed rule considered by the Commerce Department earlier this year (see 2001240012), according to a Feb. 12 Reuters report. Reuters said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recently called Defense Secretary Mark Esper to discuss the rule and the two planned a meeting for next week. The rule would have lowered the U.S.-origin threshold on exports to Huawei to 10 percent, but required the State, Commerce, Defense and Energy departments to approve with input from the Treasury. Trump administration officials plan to meet this month in an attempt to resolve differences over the rule and technology exports to Huawei, and may discuss expanding Commerce’s export control jurisdiction beyond Huawei (see 2002050047).