The Congressional Research Service released a Feb. 5 report on the global oil market effects of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Russia and Venezuela. The report contains an overview of U.S. sanctions against the three countries’ oil markets, including how successfully U.S. sanctions have blocked oil trade. The CRS said U.S. sanctions have succeeded in their goals in hurting the target markets, but U.S. sanctions frameworks do not include “design elements that consider possible oil market impacts” if the sanctions are eased or lifted.
India’s Ministry of Defense amended its export control regulations, according to a notice posted on Feb. 3. The changes include an update to India’s Category 6 munitions list, simplified procedures for the export of munitions list items, and a new “end-to-end” online portal for authorizing exports. In addition, India’s Department of Defense Production will now serve as the licensing authority for Category 6 exports, replacing the Director General of Foreign Trade.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 3-7 in case you missed them.
As the final regulations for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act take effect this week, FIRRMA’s definition for critical technologies remains unclear due to a lack of proposed rules by the Commerce Department on emerging and foundational technologies, trade lawyers said.
The United Kingdom on Feb. 10 updated its guidance on Iranian trade sanctions and its requirements for exporting certain controlled nuclear items on the U.K.'s “Trigger List.” The notices now include links to further information on exporting nuclear and dual-use goods and services through the Iran procurement channel.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will host a Defense Export Control and Compliance System webinar to cover the process for enrolling an organization’s current DTrade Super Users as DECCS Corporate Administrators, the DDTC said Feb. 7. The webinar, which will be held Feb. 13 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., will also cover how to invite “team members to join a company” and how to set up “License Groups,” DDTC said. The notice provides log-in information for the webinar. The registration and licensing applications for DECCS will launch Feb. 18 (see 2002040060).
Three people were convicted on fraud, money-laundering and smuggling charges after the Justice Department said they created a fake export scheme to make tens of millions of dollars, according to a Feb. 7 press release. Florida resident Johnny Grobman, along with Raoul Doekhie and Sherida Nabi of Suriname, bought U.S. goods at “deeply discounted” prices after they told U.S. manufacturers the products would be shipped overseas as part of a government procurement contract in Suriname. Instead of exporting the goods, the three people sold the items in the U.S. and split the profits, the Justice Department said.
A group of more than 20 states and Washington, D.C., asked a court to place a preliminary injunction on the Trump administration's plans to transfer gun export controls from the State Department to the Commerce Department, according to a motion filed Feb. 6. The motion says the states will “suffer irreparable harm” if an injunction is not issued. The states filed a lawsuit last month (see 2001240047) that asked the court to vacate final rules released by Commerce and State that would finalize the transfer of the export controls on March 9 (see 2001170030). The lawsuit said the rules will create a dangerous lack of oversight over goods used for the 3D printing of guns and violate federal notice-and-comment procedures and the Arms Export Control Act.
The United Nations Security Council Committee added Seka Baluku to its Democratic Republic of Congo sanctions list, according to a Feb. 6 press release. The UNSC said Baluku is the leader of the Allied Democratic Forces, a Uganda-based terrorist organization. The United Kingdom updated its sanctions list with the UNSC addition. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six members of the Allied Democratic Forces in December (see 1912100044) and sanctioned the group in 2014.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Venezuela’s state-owned airline and its fleet of more than 35 aircrafts to its Specially Designated Nationals List, Treasury said in a Feb. 7 press release. The airline, Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aereos, S.A., and its fleet have been sanctioned since August as part of a U.S. executive order to block Venezuelan government property, Treasury said. Treasury added the airline and its fleet to the SDN list to “ensure strengthened compliance with U.S. sanctions.”