China imposed sanctions on nine British nationals and four businesses that “maliciously spread lies and disinformation” about the serious human rights violations by China against the Uyghur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a March 26 news release. The sanctions, which take the form of an asset freeze and travel ban, come as a response to the United Kingdom's own sanctions against Chinese individuals or entities on March 23 that the kingdom coordinated with the European Union and the U.S. (see 2103220034). Five members of Parliament were included in the Chinese sanctions: Iain Duncan Smith, Tom Tugendhat, Neil O'Brien, Nusrat Ghani and Tim Loughton. The other four individuals are House of Lords members David Alton and Helena Kennedy, lawyer Geoffrey Nice and Joanne Nicola Smith Finley of New Castle University. The four entities are the China Research Group, Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribunal and Essex Court Chambers.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for five people after they were convicted of violating various export control laws, including illegal shipments of guns, ammunition and other military items, BIS said in March 25 orders.
The European Council will not roll over sanctions on Khalifa Ghwell, Libya's former General National Congress of Libya prime minister and defense minister, it announced in a March 26 news release. Ghwell has been subject to an asset freeze and travel ban since 2016 due to his role in “acts that threaten the peace, stability and security of Libya, or that obstruct or undermine the successful completion of its political transition.” His listing expires April 2.
Three Sheppard Mullin lawyers, across two continents, say the outcome of the new aggressive stance against China's rising technological manufacturing sector is yet to be seen, but that they don't expect the Biden administration to back away from the most significant export control actions taken under President Donald Trump.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Italian gas equipment manufacturer $950,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said in a March 26 notice. The company, Nordgas S.r.l., knowingly reexported 27 shipments of U.S.-origin “air pressure switches” to Iran, OFAC said, and caused a U.S. company to “indirectly” export goods to Iran.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revised the Commerce Control List and the Export Administration Regulations to implement changes made during the 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary, the agency said in a final rule released March 26. Along with revising various Export Control Classification Numbers and correcting language in the EAR, the rule eliminated certain reporting requirements for encryption items, which BIS expects to “reduce the regulatory burden” for U.S. exporters. The changes take effect March 29.
Baker McKenzie has promoted partner Sunny Mann to global chair of the firm's International Commercial & Trade Practice Group, effective July 1, it announced in a March 23 press release. Mann, currently in the firm's London office, has been with Baker McKenzie for 21 years and has worked on a host of international trade issues, including compliance with sanctions, export controls and foreign investment rules.
In a joint communication to the European Council on the state of European Union-Turkey relations, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell floated the possibility of expanding the sanctions framework on Turkey, additional sanctions listings and restrictions of the European Investment Bank, among other options to curb any Turkish breaches of international law. Other potential countermeasures against Turkey could involve targeting important sectors of the Turkish economy, including “a prohibition to supply of tourism services” and “import/export bans on certain goods and technologies” key to the energy sector. In the same communication, Borrell discussed expanding and modernizing the current EU-Turkey Customs Union as already proposed by the European Commission as a way to strengthen economic ties between the two sides.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added the Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Ltd. to its sanctions list, subjecting it to an asset freeze, it said in a March 25 Financial Sanctions Notice. The major Myanmar conglomerate, owned by the Myanmar military, contributed to a series of fundraising events, which provided financial support to military personnel engaged in genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority in the Southeast Asian nation.
The Justice Department and Homeland Security Investigations can do more to track, analyze and disrupt illegal smuggling of guns into Mexico, the Government Accountability Office said in a March 24 report. The GAO said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives often receives incomplete data on thousands of U.S.-origin guns recovered in Mexican states, and said “additional data and analysis” by HSI “could enhance U.S. efforts to understand firearms sources and smuggling routes.” As a result, both agencies are “unable to assess” their progress toward stopping illegal gun exports and haven’t “fully developed performance measures” for those efforts.