The European Union could remove exceptions to its COVID-19 vaccine export regime, expanding the controls to the rest of the globe, Bloomberg reported a senior EU official as saying. The current EU vaccine export control regime, put in place on Feb. 1, has many large exceptions, including Africa and the Middle East, to make sure that vaccine supply lines are uninterrupted and many poorer countries can receive the shots. However, until orders can be filled that the EU made with vaccine manufacturers, the country exceptions are on the chopping block as are protections to companies such as Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. until they fulfill their contracts, the report said.
A 55-year-old man has been extradited to the U.S. from Malaysia, making him the first North Korean national to be brought to the states to face a criminal charge, the Department of Justice announced in a March 22 news release. Mun Chol Myong, a North Korean businessman, is charged with laundering money through the U.S. financial system to provide luxury items to North Korea. Mun allegedly defrauded U.S. banks for years and violated sanctions on the oppressive North Korean regime in amounts exceeding $1.5 million, according to recently unsealed court documents. He also was allegedly affiliated with the Reconnaissance Geneal Bureau, North Korea's chief intelligence organization. He made his first appearance March 22 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where he had been indicted May 2, 2019, on six counts of money laundering. Mun was arrested in Malaysia May 14, 2019.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill that would impose sanctions on Russian government officials responsible for human rights abuses against their own people. The bill, which was introduced in the House in February and the text released this week, would require President Joe Biden to impose Magnitsky human rights sanctions against Russia for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the use of other biological weapons. The administration earlier this month sanctioned a host of Russian officials and agencies for Navalny’s poisoning and imprisonment (see 2103020067). The bill also calls for the State Department to “urge” Germany to “withdraw its support” from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project (see 2103180047). The legislation was introduced by Reps. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., Joe Wilson, R-S.C., Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and David Cicilline, D-R.I.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published an updated list of all the individuals or entities subject to an asset freeze in the U.K. The sanctions regimes include individuals and entities from 21 countries, and for seven non-state reasons including cybercrimes and relationship to ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for March 15-19 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The U.S. should be doing more to restrict Chinese semiconductor companies from buying U.S. equipment, which is strengthening China’s military and ceding U.S. technology leadership, researchers said. Although the U.S. should bolster domestic policies to help the semiconductor industry -- including through supply chain, manufacturing and research incentives (see 2102240052) -- the researchers said the Commerce Department’s export controls include loopholes for companies that sell advanced technologies to China.
The recent U.S. decision to increase sanctions and export controls on Russia, although largely narrow, could have significant implications for exporters doing business in Russia, law firms said. U.S. companies should pay close attention to new restrictions on certain controlled services and the potential impacts of the restrictions on disclosure and reporting requirements, the firms said.
The European Union instituted an asset freeze and travel ban on 11 Myanmar officials over their role in the military coup and subsequent police repression against peaceful protesters, the European Council announced in a March 22 news release. Ten of the 11 sanctioned individuals are in the top ranks of the Myanmar armed forces, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win. The lone nonmilitary individual is chairperson of the Union Election Commission for his role in scrapping the country's 2020 election results. The EU is pairing these sanctions with a pledge to withhold financial assistance going to the Myanmar government and to continue intensive diplomatic outreach.
The European Union is likely set to block COVID-19 vaccine shipments to the United Kingdom until vaccine developer AstraZeneca fulfills the terms of its contracts with the bloc, according to a senior EU official, Bloomberg reported. The move would mark an escalation in a battle for inoculations since AstraZeneca informed the bloc that it would not be able to deliver the amount of vaccines it promised for the first quarter, the report said. AstraZeneca is now expected to deliver only half of what it initially committed to by the end or March, promising 30 million shots to the EU.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to statements by the ultimate consignee and purchaser of U.S. exports, it said in a notice. The collection involves Form BIS-711, which provides information on the foreign importer receiving the U.S. technology and how the technology will be utilized, and “provides assurances” that the technology will not be used in violation of the Export Administration Regulations. Comments are due May 24.