A U.S. manufacturer of defense technology products was fined $1 million by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and agreed to improve its compliance program after it violated the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, DDTC said in a Nov. 20 enforcement order. The company, AeroVironment, illegally exported goods and technical data to Canada, Australia, France, Thailand and Britain, according to a charging letter. The company also violated terms and conditions of licenses and did not keep records of ITAR-controlled sales.
The U.S. is continuing sanctions on Burundi, the White House said in a Nov. 19 notice. The situation in Burundi -- marked by “violence” and “political repression” -- continues to “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, the White House said. The sanctions are being renewed for one year from Nov. 22. The national emergency with regard to Burundi was originally declared Nov. 22, 2015.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent penalty against a U.S. company’s sanctions and anti-corruption violations may be an indication of the SEC’s intent to begin penalizing sanctions violators, according to a Nov. 18 post by Squire Patton Boggs. The penalty marked a “rare foray” by the SEC into sanctions enforcement, the post said, and may signal its aim to explore new ways of policing companies.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security finalized some interagency reviews of Huawei license applications and will begin issuing approvals and denials on a “rolling basis,” according to Matt Borman, Commerce deputy assistant secretary for export administration. The announcement was first made by Secretary Wilbur Ross, who told Fox Business on Nov. 19 that Commerce has started “to send out the 20-day intent-to-deny letters and some approvals.” Ross also said Commerce has received about 290 “requests for specific licenses.”
If President Donald Trump signs the bill that passed the Senate unanimously Nov. 19 and passed the House 417-1 on Nov. 20, the secretary of state will have to certify within 180 days whether Hong Kong continues to warrant special treatment under U.S. law because of its special status under Chinese rule. It also requires a report by that date on whether items exported to Hong Kong that are on export controls lists are being transshipped.
More than three weeks after a top Commerce official said the agency’s first set of proposed controls on emerging technologies would be released within the ”next few weeks,” (see 1910290062) the proposal is still under review. Commerce now hopes to release the proposed controls “in the next couple weeks,” Matt Borman, Commerce deputy undersecretary for export administration, said during a Nov. 20 Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting.
Japan is revising its export controls for certain technologies and machine parts, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Nov. 19. The controls will impact certain “detonation” engines, “control devices of gear machine tools,” “optical sensors” and “microwave equipment,” Japan said, according to an unofficial translation.
A Virginia-based information technology company may have violated U.S. sanctions in 2017, the company said in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended on Sept. 30. The company, DXC Technology, said it voluntarily disclosed possible violations to the Office of Foreign Assets Control stemming from “insurance premium data and claims data” processed by two partially owned joint ventures of Xchanging, a London technology company that DXC acquired in 2017. DXC also sent a copy of the disclosure to the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The company said it is “finalizing its internal investigation” of the violations and plans to give OFAC more information in early 2020.
A South American airline may have violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba, the airline said in an October filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Avianca Holdings said it recently became subject to U.S. sanctions regulations when its parent company, Synergy Aerospace Corp., conducted a 2018 share-transfer with a Delaware-based company “wholly-owned” by Synergy, the filings said. Soon after the transfer, Avianca said it discovered its “regularly scheduled” flights between Central and South America and Cuba were subject to U.S. laws and may have violated the U.S. Cuban Assets Control Regulations.
The U.S. is ending a sanctions waiver for an Iranian nuclear site and plans to sanction certain Iraqi officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Nov. 18. Pompeo said the U.S. will be ending the waiver for the Fordow nuclear facility on Dec. 15. The waiver, which allows certain activities related to the nuclear plant, will be terminated due to Iran beginning uranium enrichment activities at the plant, Pompeo said. “The right amount of uranium enrichment for the world’s largest state sponsor of terror is zero,” he said. “The United States rejects this approach completely and calls on all nations to do the same.”