If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on a “hard Brexit,” the U.K. will likely make use of more flexible licensing powers, publish more sanctions guidance and may quickly impose its own set of sanctions on human rights violations, said Maya Lester, a U.K.-based sanctions lawyer, during a KPMG webinar on July 25.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released a July 24 statement about Japan’s ongoing dispute with South Korea, saying South Korea’s position on “catch-all controls” are “unclear” and criticizing South Korea for continuously postponing “policy dialogue” talks.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Colombian national, his business associates, family members and a collection of shell companies that has propped up the Nicolas Maduro regime through food imports and distribution in Venezuela, Treasury said in a July 25 press release. OFAC sanctioned Alex Nain Saab Moran, nine other associates and 13 entities for participating in the scheme.
The State Department is seeking public comments on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that would consolidate and clarify exemptions in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the agency said in a notice. The State Department is specifically seeking comments about whether any of the exemptions are “redundant” or “contain language that introduces significant ambiguity or hinders the exemption’s intended use,” the notice said. The notice is scheduled to publish July 26. State is in the process of reorganizing the ITAR (see 1907120011). Comments are due by Aug. 26.
CBP hopes its Electronic Export Manifest system reduces costs and waiting times for U.S. exporters, who are being burdened by CBP’s “antiquated process for exports,” said Jim Swanson, director of CBP’s Cargo and Security Controls Division, at the agency’s Trade Symposium in Chicago on July 25.
In the July 13-24 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Britain published guidance that offers insight into how it would transfer European Union sanctions on Burundi and the Republic of Guinea into the United Kingdom's sanctions regime in the case of a no-deal Brexit, the U.K. said on July 23. In its guidance on Guinea sanctions, the U.K. said the purpose of the measures would be to lead the Guinea government to “investigate properly the violent repression in Guinea” on Sept. 28, 2009, and bring “criminal proceedings” on those responsible. The U.K. said the purpose of the Burundi sanctions is to encourage the country’s government to “respect democratic principles,” “bring about a peaceful solution to the political situation in Burundi,” “refrain from policies” that “repress civil society” and abide by international human rights laws.
The U.S. is extending a national emergency to continue sanctions on “transnational criminal organizations” for one year, the White House said in a July 22 press release. Under the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the sanctions target criminal organizations that threaten “international political and economic systems,” some of which are “entrenched in the operations of foreign governments and the international financial system,” the press release said. The organizations “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat,” the White House said. The first executive order declaring this national emergency was on July 24, 2011.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on a Chinese oil company and its CEO for buying crude oil from Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said July 22. The announcement sanctioned Zhuhai Zhenrong Company Limited and CEO Youmin Li, Pompeo said.The sanctions were originally announced by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control on July 22, but the agency did not immediately release detailed information about the sanctions (see 1907220049). Pompeo said the sanctions are part of the U.S.’s “maximum pressure campaign” on Iran.
The Commerce Department plans to issue decisions on Huawei-related export license applications “within the next few weeks,” Secretary Wilbur Ross said July 23 on Bloomberg Television. Ross said Commerce has received about 50 applications from 35 companies. “We’re processing them as quickly as we responsibly can,” he said.