The State Department sanctioned the Iran Space Agency, the Iran Space and Research Center and the Astronautics Research Institute for activities relating to weapons proliferation, manufacture, transport and use, according to a Dec. 2 notice. The sanctions block all U.S. property belong to the agency, property of people or companies who exported goods or provided support to the agencies and any companies owned by the agencies. The notice provides primary and alternative addresses for each of the agencies, which are based in Iran.
The State Department is removing sanctions on Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan national and “key middleman” of the A.Q. Khan nuclear procurement network that was sanctioned in 2009, the agency said Dec. 2. Tahir was sanctioned under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Prevention Act and the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, the agency said. The agency did not provide a reason the sanctions were being removed.
China announced sanctions on five U.S. non-government organizations and said U.S. military ships and aircraft will not be allowed to visit Hong Kong, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Dec. 2. The sanctions were in response to the U.S. passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last week (see 1911290012). The sanctioned organizations include the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican Institute, Human Rights Watch and Freedom House.
As CBP prepares to launch its electronic export manifest system, the agency should increase collaboration with stakeholders, provide clear guidelines for regulators and eliminate redundant data requirements, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee’s Export Modernization Working Group said in proposed recommendations. The recommendations were released this month ahead of COAC’s Dec. 4 public meeting.
A U.S. electronics and computer component company may have violated U.S. sanctions on Iran and Syria, the company said in a Nov. 7 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Colorado-based Arrow Electronics said a “limited number of non-executive employees … facilitated product shipment” to customers for re-export to people covered by U.S. sanctions on Iran and Syria. The transactions took place between 2015 and 2019 and were valued at about $5,000, the company said. Arrow Electronics said it voluntarily disclosed the potential violations to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls and the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security earlier this year. It also disciplined or fired employees involved in the transactions and said it plans to “cooperate fully” with BIS and OFAC. The company said it is not able to “estimate” the potential penalty it may receive.
President Donald Trump signed bills that could remove Hong Kong from receiving special customs and export controls treatment and restrict exports of rubber bullets, tear gas and other items to the region. The bills (see 1911200036), signed Nov. 27, led to backlash from China, which said the country is prepared to retaliate. “We urge the U.S. to not continue going down the wrong path, or China will take countermeasures, and the U.S. must bear all consequences,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Nov. 28.
As the European Union prepares revised regulations of its dual-use export controls (see 1906050039), EU industries are “divided” over whether human rights violations should be an “explicit justification” for export controls, according to a briefing of the EU review released Nov. 26. The 11-page briefing, released by the European Parliament, details how the controls would be changed, including impacts on export controls of surveillance technology, a revamp of the EU’s “licensing architecture” and a focus on terrorism and human rights.
The State Department has forwarded notifications of proposed export licenses to Congress as required by the Arms Export Control Act, the agency said in a Nov. 27 notice in the Federal Register. The notice includes details on the 91 notifications, sent from November 2018 until May 2019.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued guidance on the definition of “maintenance” used in General License K, which allows certain transactions with COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. The guidance was released along with two new Frequently Asked Questions and two updated FAQs, according to a Nov. 27 notice.
The European Union’s transfer of authority over its sanctions portfolio represents an increased focus on “stricter sanctions enforcement” and could potentially redefine the impact of EU sanctions, according to a Nov. 21 post from the Royal United Services Institute. The change, made by the European Commission earlier this month, transferred the EU sanctions portfolio from the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security to the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA).