The Environmental Protection Agency released a final rule April 29 setting new significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for two chemical substances subject to premanufacture notices (PMNs), and a microorganism that was the subject of a Microbial Commercial Activity Notice (MCAN). As a result of the SNURs, persons planning to manufacture, import or process any of the chemical substances or microorganisms for an activity designated as a significant new use by this rule are required to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. Importers of chemicals and microorganisms subject to these SNURs will need to certify their compliance with the SNUR requirements, and exporters of these chemical substances and microorganisms will now become subject to export notification requirements. The final rule takes effect June 29. The SNURs cover the following:
The United Kingdom published guidance April 29 ro assist individuals and businesses with complying with the Myanmar sanctions regime. The document includes best practice for complying with the asset freeze and travel ban, enforcing the prohibitions and circumstances in which the sanctions don't apply.
The European Union extended restrictive measures on individuals and entities in Myanmar until April 30, 2022, the European Council announced in an April 29 news release. The sanctions were originally enacted in response to a military coup in the Southeast Asian nation and subsequent violence against peaceful protesters along with human rights atrocities committed against the Rohingya population and other ethnic minorities. Covering individuals and entities associated with the Myanmar Armed Forces, the restrictions include an arms embargo, export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military, and export restrictions on communications-monitoring equipment.
U.S. and Western sanctions against Syria are worsening the country's humanitarian crisis and should be lifted, Russia, China and Iran told the United Nations Security Council April 28. China urged all countries imposing sanctions against Syria “to immediately lift these restrictions, as they are deeply affecting the Syrian people,” according to a readout of the UNSC meeting. Iran also called for the “immediate removal of sanctions that weaponize food and medicine.” Russia said Syria must solve its issues “without any outside interference.” The U.S. highlighted its recent increases in humanitarian support to Syria and said Russia is partially responsible for blocking U.N. aid deliveries to Syria.
A German software company agreed to pay more than $8 million in fines after it admitted to violating U.S. export controls and sanctions against Iran, the Justice, Treasury and Commerce departments announced April 29. The company, SAP SE, came to settlement agreements with all three agencies after it voluntarily disclosed the violations, which included illegal exports and reexports of U.S.-origin software.
Semiconductor industry officials are preparing to push for export control modernization over certain electronics on the Commerce Control List, which they say will help controls avoid unintended consequences on U.S. companies and more accurately reflect national security concerns. The effort, led by the Semiconductor Industry Association, will look to convince the Bureau of Industry and Security to update certain control parameters and definitions, and make technical changes in Category 3 of the CCL, which officials view as out of date.
Even as the U.S. and the European Union work privately to resolve their differences over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing, a U.S. representative at the World Trade Organization complained that the EU provided no status update on coming into compliance over Airbus subsidies. The EU said that the measures it took in August 2020 (see 2008280051) were more than enough to comply with a WTO ruling, according to a Geneva trade official.
The European Court of Justice annulled a 2018 decision by the General Court of the European Union to delist the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) from the terror-related sanctions regime. In an April 22 opinion, the ECJ found that the lower court should have considered the evidence relating to why the European Council decided to continue listing the PKK as subject to sanctions. Determining that not all the evidence had been considered, the ECJ remanded the case to the lower court.
The Justice Department hasn’t yet begun prosecuting cases involving violations of the Commerce’s Department's newly issued end-user restrictions but expects that to soon become a significant part of the agency’s focus, a senior Department of Justice official said.
At a webinar on U.S.-Vietnam economic relations, Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc said Vietnam is working to narrow the trade deficit with the U.S., whether by buying more American agricultural exports or encouraging Vietnamese businesses to open factories in the U.S. "I don’t think we can solve the problem overnight, with COVID-19 and the increased demand of the goods from Southeast Asia, and particularly Vietnam," he said April 27.